THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

SCHOOL  OF  LAW 


AN  INTRODUCTION 

TO  THE 

INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY 
OF  ENGLAND 


BY 


ABBOTT  PAYSON  USHER,  PH.D. 

ASSOCIATE  PROFESSOR  OF  ECONOMICS 
HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


HOUGHTON  MIFFLIN  COMPANY 

BOSTON    •    NEW  YORK    •    CHICAGO    •    DALLAS    •    SAN  FRANCISCO 

tKjefctberfitbe  $ress  Cambridge 


COPYRIGHT,  1920,  BY  ABBOTT  PAYSON  USHER 


ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED 


T 


CAMBRIDGE  .  MASSACHUSETTS 
PRINTED  IN  THE  U.S.A. 


TO  THE  MEMORY 

OF 
MY  BROTHER 

ALBERT  MORSE  USHER,  107th  U.S.  INFANTRY 

WOUNDED,  OCTOBER  17,  1918 

IN  THE  BATTLES  FOR  THE  HINDENBURG  LINE 

DIED  AT  CAMIERS,  OCTOBER  28,  1918 


734173 


PREFACE 

THE  present  volume  has  been  planned  and  written  with  a 
view  to  the  needs  of  college  classes  beginning  work  in  eco- 
nomic history.  For  this  reason  matters  have  been  included 
that  do  not  lie  strictly  within  the  field  of  industrial  history, 
notably  the  chapters  dealing  with  agrarian  questions.  These 
problems  could  hardly  be  deemed  essential  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  development  of  industry  hi  the  literal  sense, 
but  such  material  is  ordinarily  included  in  the  introductory 
courses  in  economic  history  even  if  the  course  is  described  as 
" industrial  history."  This  slight  inconsistency  in  nomen- 
clature tends  to  create  some  confusion  between  the  scope  of 
the  term  "industrial  history"  and  "economic  history"  in 
general.  It  is  not,  of  course,  serious,  but  it  is  perhaps  better 
that  these  terms  should  be  used  with  some  care  hi  the  titles 
of  books.  Strictly  speaking,  industrial  history  is  of  no  more 
than  coordinate  importance  with  agrarian  history  and  com- 
mercial history,  though  the  problems  of  these  phases  of 
economic  history  are  relatively  more  difficult  and  ill-suited 
to  the  capacities  of  an  elementary  class.  The  emphasis 
currently  laid  upon  industrial  history  is  thus  thoroughly 
justified  upon  pedagogical  grounds,  but  it  would  be  un- 
fortunate to  allow  the  expediency  of  this  course  to  obscure 
the  just  proportions  between  the  different  phases  of  the 
general  field. 

The  space  devoted  to  the  first  three  chapters  may  seem 
disproportionate  to  some,  but  it  is  believed  that  the  text  of 
the  chapters  will  sufficiently  explain  their  place  in  the  book. 
If  it  should  be  desired  to  confine  attention  more  exclusively 
to  England,  it  would  not  be  necessary  for  a  class  to  read  the 
first  two  chapters,  though  the  characterization  of  the  forms 
of  industrial  organization  (pp.  4-17)  should  in  that  case  be 
presented  by  the  teacher.  It  is  believed  that  these  chapters 
will  prove  particularly  useful  in  courses  given  with  especial 
reference  to  work  in  sociology  and  economics  as  distinct 


vi  PREFACE 

from  purely  descriptive  history.  The  slight  departure  from 
the  narrowly  nationalistic  point  of  view  that  usually  dom- 
inates the  writing  of  economic  history  makes  the  present 
volume  a  comprehensive  survey  of  the  general  problems  of 
industrial  history. 

The  references  for  reading  hi  connection  with  the  text 
represent  personal  experience  with  classes,  and  it  is  believed 
that  no  books  are  recommended  for  use  with  classes  that  are 
not  within  the  compass  of  ordinary  students.  An  attempt 
has  been  made  to  suggest  reading  along  the  line  of  all  the 
varied  interests  presented  by  the  subject,  so  that  each  stu- 
dent may  have  opportunity  to  give  expression  to  his  per- 
sonal tastes.  It  is  hoped  that  the  critical  references  will  be 
especially  useful  to  graduate  students:  pains  have  been 
taken  to  make  the  lists  sufficiently  inclusive  to  bring  the 
student  hi  touch  with  all  the  critical  studies  of  primary  im- 
portance, and,  as  most  of  the  works  contain  bibliographies, 
it  would  not  be  difficult  to  get  in  touch  with  the  literature  on 
each  subject. 

In  addition  to  the  obligations  to  writers  which  are  ac- 
knowledged hi  the  text  or  in  the  notes,  the  author  is  greatly 
indebted  to  his  colleagues  at  Cornell  University,  most  espe- 
cially to  Professor  A.  A.  Young,  without  whose  encourage- 
ment and  advice  this  book  would  not  have  been  written. 
Professor  W.  F.  Willcox,  Professor  C.  H.  Hull,  and  Mr.  R.  A. 
Campbell  have  given  me  the  benefit  of  their  advice  on  many 
points  which  involved  some  departure  from  conventional 
views.  I  wish  also  to  express  my  obligations  to  Professor 
E.  F.  Gay,  whose  teaching  was  instrumental  in  the  formula- 
tion of  the  problems  that  have  since  then  claimed  my  best 
attention.  While  it  is  not  my  intention  to  imply  that  he  is 
in  any  way  responsible  for  views  expressed  hi  the  present 
volume,  my  work  has  been  a  direct  outcome  of  the  stim- 
ulus of  his  teaching.  I  am  also  indebted  to  Miss  Louise  L. 
Lamphier  for  stenographic  assistance  in  the  preparation  of 
the  manuscript  of  several  chapters. 

ABBOTT  PAYSON  USHER 

Cornell  University 

September  5,  1919 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  I 
FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION 

I.  Socialists  and  industrial  history:  Concentration  of  attention  on  the 
forms  of  industrial  organization  —  The  socialistic  characterization 
of  typical  forms:  household  industry,  craft  industry,  the  factory 
system  —  Criticism  of  the  interpretation  of  the  history  of  antiquity 
by  historians 1 

II.  Typical  forms  of  industrial  organization!  Undiversified  household 
industry  distinguished  by  the  absence  of  specialized  skill  —  Prob- 
ably a  more  primitive  form  than  is  usually  assumed  —  Artificiality 
of  the  classification  of  industry  in  the  patriarchal  household  with 
slaves  as  "  household  "  industry —  Craft  industry  distinguished  by 
specialized  skill,  its  presence  indicated  most  clearly  by  the  exist- 
ence of  distinguishable  crafts  in  a  given  locality  —  Wage-work 
and  craft- work  not  distinct  stages  in  evolution  —  Disintegration 
of  the  process  of  manufacture  by  the  development  of  crafts  —  The 
"putting-out  system"  a  means  of  integration  —  Various  terms  used 
to  describe  this  form  of  organization  —  The  essence  of  the  system 
lay  in  the  ownership  of  materials  by  capitalists:  in  early  forms,  raw 
materials  only;  in  later  forms,  all  the  instruments  of  production  — 
Work  was  done  in  the  home  subject  to  no  supervision  —  The  fac- 
tory distinguished  by  disciplined  coordination  —  Concentration  of 
operatives  was  a  means  to  this  end  rather  than  an  end  in  itself  — 
The  factory,  as  a  form,  antedates  the  Industrial  Revolution  —  Ad- 
ministrative definitions  of  "factories"  have  been  artificial  —  Diffi- 
culty of  classifying  the  "sweat-shop" 3 

III.  Commerce  and  industry:  The  degree  of  industrial  specialization  is 
determined  by  the  extent  of  the  market  —  The  market  is  subject  to 
social  as  well  as  to  territorial  limitations;  social  limitations  especially 
important  in  the  early  period  —  Industrial  specialization  concerned 
in  large  measure  with  the  wants  of  the  wealthy  —  The  Industrial 
Revolution  resulted  in  the  breaking-down  of  the  social  limitations  of 
the  market  and  the  standardization  of  both  production  and  con- 
sumption —  The  expansion  of  the  market  in  the  earlier  periods  was 
primarily  territorial;  best  indicated  by  the  growth  of  geographical 
knowledge ..18 

CHAPTER  II 
THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY 

I.  The  dawn  of  history  not  to  be  identified  with  the  beginnings  of  social 
organization:  early  life  dominated  by  the  city  —  The  beginnings  of 


viii  CONTENTS 

industrial  history  not  coincident  with  the  first  stages  of  any  schematic 
or  logical  arrangement  of  forms  of  industrial  organization  —  The  city 
life  of  antiquity:  its  social  elements;  the  mass  of  urban  population  — 
Distinctive  features  of  city  life  in  the  middle  ages  and  in  modern 
times  —  Similarities  in  industrial  organization  in  antiquity  and  the 
middle  ages 24 

II.  Egypt:  Ambiguity  of  pictorial  evidence  —  A  list  of  crafts  from  the  • 
Twelfth  Dynasty  —  Other  indications  of  the  number  of  crafts  — 
Status  of  artisans 30 

III.  Mesopotamia:  Economic  conditions  in  the  early  period  —  References 
to  artisans  in  the  Code  of  Hammurabi  —  The  temples  as  business 
houses  —  Difficulty  of  classifying  their  industrial  operations  —  Ap- 
prenticeship and   craft   organization  —  Distinctions  necessary  be- 
tween forms  of  organization  and  the  scale  of  industrial  life      .      .     34 

IV.  Greece:  Various  interpretations  of  the  economic  development  of  the 
Greeks  in  the  semi-historic  period  —  Commerce  usually  the  basis 
of  highly  specialized  industry  —  Leaf's  conception  of  the  Trojan 
War  —  Correlation  of  the  view  with  the  industrial  history  of  Greece 

—  Economic  mechanism  not  a  measure  of  artistic  accomplishment 

—  Comparison  of  economic  conditions  in  antiquity  with  eighteenth- 
century  Prussia  —  The  degree  of  industrial  specialization  in  the 
sixth  century  B.C.  —  Rapid  growth  hi  the  fifth  and  fourth  centuries 

—  The  "factory  system"  —  Socialistic  interpretations  —  Slavery  in 
antiquity 38 

V.  Rome  and  Constantinople:  Roman  collegia  —  The  list  of  crafts  — 
Crafts  at  Constantinople  —  Evidences  of  craft  gilds     ....     47 


CHAPTER  III 
CRAFTS  AND  CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE 

I.  Roman  influences  hi  Gaul  —  Probable  degree  of  survivals  in  the 
'  organization  of  industry  —  Basic  crafts  persisted  —  Conditions  on 
the  great  estates,  the  "gyneceum"  —  Lists  of  the  craftsmen  gathered 
around  monastic  establishments:  Saint  Riquier,  in  the  ninth  century; 
Saint  Vincent  at  Le  Mans,  in  the  eleventh  century  —  Difficulties  of 
classifying  industrial  aggregations  of  partially  unfree  artisans  .  .  52 

II.  The  rise  of  the  "Third  Estate":  its  importance  hi  social  and  eco- 
nomic history  —  The  prosperity  of  France  indicated  by  the  growth  of 
population:  estimates  for  Paris,  1292  and  1328;  France  in  1328  —  Na- 
ture of  the  evidence  of  industrial  specialization  —  Three  groups  of 
crafts:  merchandizing  crafts;  crafts  occupied  with  purely  local  con- 
cerns; crafts  concerned  with  export  industry  —  List  of  crafts  at  Paris 
late  in  the  eleventh  century  —  Numbers  hi  the  different  occupational 
groups  at  Paris  in  1292  and  1300  —  Classification  of  crafts  according 
to  the  numbers  of  craftsmen  registered  on  the  tax-rolls  —  The  dis- 


CONTENTS  ix 

integration  of  industry  —  Relations  between  producers  and  con- 
sumers: not  happily  described  as  direct  contact  —  Necessity  of  rec- 
ognizing the  social  stratification  of  the  market  —  Beginnings  of 
capitalistic  control  of  the  industrial  process  —  Wage-earners,  but  no 
wage-earning  class  —  Crafts  whose  members  were  regularly  em- 
ployed by  other  crafts 57 

HI.  Members  of  the  specialized  industrial  household  —  Apprentices  and 
apprenticeship  —  Journeymen  and  masters  —  Conditions  of  becom- 
ing a  master  in  the  early  period  —  The  free  craft:  a  purely  sponta- 
neous growth  —  The  sworn  craft  or  gild,  a  privileged  body  created 
by  authority  —  The  transition  from  the  free  craft  to  the  gild  at  Paris 
—  The  wardens  of  the  gild  —  Essentially  administrative  functions 
of  the  gilds  at  Paris  —  Special  conditions  affecting  the  growth  of 
crafts  closely  associated  with  the  Royal  Household  —  History  of  the 
carpenters  —  Craft  statutes  as  evidence  —  The  more  usual  regula- 
tions —  Early  Parisian  regulations  of  apprenticeship  —  Position  of 
the  journeyman  —  Ease  of  becoming  a  master  —  The  master-piece 
not  required  in  the  early  period  —  Inspection  of  goods  and  processes 
of  production 72 

CHAPTER  IV 
THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700 

I.  Early  estimates  of  population  based  upon  numbers  of  families,  or 
property-holders  —  Uncertainty  as  to  the  proportion  of  the  total 
population  to  those  enumerated  —  Omissions  —  Importance  of  as- 
certaining the  general  movement  of  population  —  Estimates  for  Eng- 
land and  for  France  —  One  hundred  persons  per  square  mile  probably 
normal  density  of  population  for  Europe  prior  to  the  Industrial  Rev- 
olution —  England  relatively  under-populated  —  Relativity  of  the 
conception  of  normal  density:  influence  of  rice  culture  in  India,  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution  in  Europe 87 

II.  Estimates  of  Seebohm  and  Gasquet  for  the  population  of  England 
prior  to  the  Black  Death  —  The  subsidy  rolls  —  Figures  for  five  coun- 
ties compared  with  the  figures  for  1377  —  Changes  in  the  relative  den- 
sity of  population  —  The  westward  movement  —  Its  significance  .  92 

III.  Size  of  villages  in  Derby  and  Essex  in  1086  —  Population  of  towns 
in  1377  —  Essentially  rural  population  indicated  by  the  evidence 
from  the  Subsidy  Rolls  —  The  growth  of  London 102 

CHAPTER  V 
VILLAGE  AND  MANOR 

I.  Persistence  of  superficial  aspects  of  village  life  —  Aristocracy  and 
the  village  —  Primitive  land  tenures  an  expression  of  economic 
needs  .  109 


x  CONTENTS 

II.  Scattered  farms  and  villages:  Modes  of  settlement:  scattered  farms; 
the  enclosed  village;  the  open-field  village  —  Field  arrangements  of 
a  typical  open-field  village  —  Methods  of  agriculture  —  Divisions  of 
the  fields  into  strips  —  Village  organization  —  Racial  explanations 
of  these  three  modes  of  settlement  —  Economic  interpretations  sug- 
gested by  Siberian  conditions  —  The  economic  factors  underlying 
a  transition  from  individual  farms  to  the  open-field  village  —  Com- 
plexity of  conditions  in  Europe  before  and  during  the  great  migra- 
tions   112 

HI.  The  common  people  and  the  magnates:  Aristocracy  ultimately  the 
predominant  force  in  medieval  rural  organization  —  Relation  of  a 
landed  aristocracy  to  the  village  —  Possibility  of  a  survival  of  the 
rural  organization  of  the  Roman  period  —  Factors  in  the  natural 
growth  of  an  aristocracy  —  Influence  of  the  Norman  Conquest  — 
Proportions  of  the  different  classes  as  shown  by  Domesday  Book  — 
The  manor  as  an  administrative  and  legal  conception  —  Divergent 
types  revealed  by  the  Domesday  Survey 120 

IV.  The  organization  of  the  manor  hi  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 
turies: The  general  aspect  of  a  manor  —  Week  works  and  boon  days 

—  Services  rendered  by  crofters  —  The  officers  of  the  manor  —  Vil- 
lage officials  —  Destruction  of  the  economic  independence  of  the 
manor  by  the  development  of  local  markets  —  Stages  in  this  proc- 
ess       127 

V.  The  end  of  villeinage  in  England:  The  influence  of  commutation  of 
labor'services  upon  tenure  —  Complexity  of  motives  underlying  com- 
mutation —  Chronology  of  the  movement  —  The  new  yeomanry  of 
England 131 

CHAPTER  VI 
THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS 

I.  Schmoller's  conception  of  the  "town  economy"  —  An  unduly  lit- 
eral interpretation  of  the  sources  —  Formalism  and  legal  fictions  — 
Enfranchisement  of  trade  by  means  of  special  privileges  —  Medieval 
trade  territorially  extensive  but  of  relatively  small  volume  —  Its 
needs  not  inadequately  met  by  the  complex  legal  status  of  trade  and 
traders «. ..-:'.' 134 

II.  Fairs  and  the  Law  Merchant:  Fairs  and  markets  —  Some  fairs  es- 
pecially important  for  wholesale  and  for  foreign  trade  —  European 
cycles  of  f airs  —  Possible  fair  cycle  in  England  —  Essential  and  an- 
cillary business  at  the  fairs  —  Tariffs,  tolls,  and  "  free  trade  "  —  En- 
franchisement conferred  by  the  charters  was  legal  rather  than  fiscal 

—  Pie-powder  courts:  their  procedure  and  the  Law  Merchant  — 
Special  franchises  of  continental  merchants  in  England  ....  137 

III.  Associations  of  merchants:  Organization  of  resident  alien  merchants 

—  Origins  of  the  Teutonic  Hanse  —  Activities  of  the  Hansards  — 


CONTENTS  a 

The  Steelyard  —  Privileges  of  the  Hanse  —  TheCarta  Mercatoria  — 
Purveyance,  or  prise  —  Struggle  to  maintain  the  privileges  granted 
by  the  Carta  Mercatoria  —  Decline  of  the  Hansards — Merchants 
of  the  Staple  —  Purpose  of  the  Staple  —  Its  location  —  Origin  of  the 
company  —  Control  of  the  trade  in  wool  —  Rise  of  the  Merchant 
Adventurers  —  The  cloth  trade  —  Struggle  with  the  Hansards  .  .  146 

IV.  Township  and  borough:  Distinction  between  the  legal  and  the  eco- 
nomic aspects  of  urban  life  —  Differentiation  between  urban  and 
rural  life  —  Military  factors  in  the  growth  of  boroughs  —  Adminis- 
trative factors — Economic  and  legal  developments  in  the  thirteenth 
century  —  Significance  of  the  late  emergence  of  incorporated  towns 
in  connection  with  Schmoller's  theory  —  The  Gild  Merchant  —  Po- 
litical decentralization  and  cosmopolitanism  ......  158 

CHAPTER  VII 
THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND 

I.  The  word  "gild"  —  Three  types  of  gild  —  French  terminology  — 
Brentano's  theory  —  Probably  no  fraternal  element  in  the  craft  gild, 
no  direct  connection  with  the  modern  trade  union 165 

II.  Religious  gilds:  References  to  religious  gilds  at  an  early  date;  little 
information  until  1389  —  Functions  and  membership  of  religious 
gilds  —  Officers,  rules,  and  customs 168 

III.  The  Gild  Merchant:  Religious  elements  in  the'gild  merchant  —  Re- 
lations with  the  crafts;  craft  gilds  —  Gild  merchant  and  municipal- 
ity —  Essential  privileges  —  Non-resident  membership  —  The  shar- 
ing of  purchases  —  Officers  and  meetings 171 

IV.  The  Craft  gilds :  Religious  gilds  composed  of  members  of  a  single  craft 

—  Crafts  chartered  by  the  King  —  Crafts  deriving  their  authority 
from  the  municipality  —  Crafts  at  Norwich  in  1415     ....  176 

V.  Relation  of  different  types  of  gild  to  each  other:  The  gild  merchant 
most  powerful  when  the  other  types  were  relatively  less  prominent 

—  Religious  gilds  developed  contemporaneously  with  other  craft 
organizations  —  Confusion  of  functions  and  aims  —  Associations  of 
crafts  for  ceremonial  observances  —  Occupational  statistics  —  Pre- 
dominance of  small  crafts  —  Craft  gilds  probably  a  less  conspicuous 
feature  of  social  life  than  religious  gilds 181 

VI.  The  religious  gilds  and  the  crown :  The  gilds  and  the  Statute  of  Mort- 
main —  Acquisition  of  charters  from  the  King  —  The  grant  to  the 
Tailors  of  Salisbury  —  Confiscation  of  gild  property  in  1547  —  Not 
directly  a  cause  of  the  decline  of  the  craft  gilds  —  Wage-earners  and 
employers  —  Companies  formed  by  the  employing  classes  .  .  .  187 

VII.  The  Statute  of  Apprentices:  Purposes  of  the  statute  —  Distinctions 
between  the  various  crafts  —  Obligation  to  follow  some  calling  — 
The  wage-fixing  clauses ,  .  191 


xii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750 

I.  Development  of  technique  in  the  woolen  industry  —  Types  of  wool 
and  of  woolen  fabrics  —  Fundamental  processes  of  the  woolen  and 
worsted  industries  —  Characteristic  features  of  woolens  and  worsteds 
—  Growth  of  the  worsted  industry  in  England 195 

II.  The  division  of  labor  in  the  woolen  industry  —  Growth  of  specializa- 
tion of  tasks  —  Subordination  of  dyeing  and  f  ulling  —  Proportions  of 
workers  in  the  worsted  industry  —  Acquisition  of  capitalistic  control 
by  the  mercantile  class  —  Spinning  not  a  specialized  occupation  in 
the  modern  sense  —  Relation  of  industry  to  agriculture  .  .  .  201 

[ill.  Geography  of  the  woolen  industries  —  Effect  of  the  diffusion  of  in- 
dustry upon  the  towns  —  The  Weaver's  Act — Anti-capitalistic  pur- 
pose of  the  statute  —  Importance  of  the  exemptions  —  Changes  in 
the  industries  after  1550 209 

[IV.  The  scale  of  manufacture:  1395-96  —  The  putting-out  system  at 
Colchester  —  The  larger  and  the  smaller  masters  —  Importance  of  the 
putting-out  system  about  1450  —  Descriptions  of  the  system  in  the 
late  sixteenth  century  —  Divergent  forms  —  Persistence  of  these 
conditions  until  the  early  nineteenth  century  —  Sporadic  tendencies 
toward  the  factory  system 215 


L  The  meaning  of  "enclosure"  —  Its  effect  upon  agricultural  methods 

—  The  Midland  system  —  Change  in  the  characteristic  size  of  farms 

—  Social  consequences  of  the  change  —  Sequence  of  these  changes  — 
Continuity  of  the  enclosure  movement  —  Uncertainty  of  purpose  in 
the  early  stages 225 

II.  Enclosure  of  waste  —  Legal  problems  involved  in  enclosure  of  the 
open  fields  —  Rights  of  common  pasture  —  Enclosure  by  agree- 
ment —  The  duty  of  a  steward  —  Early  enclosures  partial  —  Crea- 
tion of  precedents  for  enclosure  by  act  of  Parliament  —  Theory  of 
the  Enclosure  Acts  —  Dangers  to  small  proprietors  —  Lord  Thur- 
low's  criticism  of  Parliamentary  procedure  —  Essential  difficulties  in 
determining  questions  of  right  and  title  —  The  problem  of  common 
pastures  —  Social  consequences  of  enclosing  them  —  Protests  at  the 
close  of  the  eighteenth  century 232 

HI.  Early  attempts  to  correct  the  mistakes  of  the  Enclosure  Acts  — 
Allotments  and  small  holdings  —  Experiments  of  landowners  with 
allotments  —  Early  legislation  —  The  Act  of  1882  —  Need  of  com- 
pulsion—  The  Act  of  1887  —  The  small-holdings  movement  — 
Peasant  proprietorship  —  Defects  of  the  Act  of  1892  —  The  Act  of 
1907  .  240 


CONTENTS  riii 

1 

CHAPTER  X 
THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 

Origin  of  the  phrase  "Industrial  Revolution"  —  Social  importance 
of  the  period  compared  with  other  transition  periods  —  Early  con- 
sciousness of  the  social  transformation  among  English  writers  —  Diffi- 
culty of  characterizing  the  movement  —  Identification  of  the  move- 
ment with  the  great  inventions  an  error  —  Toynbee's  emphasis  upon 
the  rise  of  the  laissez-faire  policy  —  Socialistic  emphasis  upon  capital- 
ism and  the  rise  of  the  factory  system  —  Inadequacy  of  any  single 
formula  —  Relative  independence  of  the  causative  factors  underly- 
ing the  changes  in  the  textile  and  in  the  metal  trades  —  Genesis  of 
the  new  cotton  industry  —  The  fuel  problem  and  the  metal  trades  — 
Probable  rank  of  various  industrial  groups  in  1700  —  Effect  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution  upon  the  rank  of  different  groups  .  .  .  247 

Statistics  of  industrial  groupings :  England  in  1851 ;  Prussia  in  1855; 
British  India  in  1901  —  These  figures  probably  indicative  of  condi- 
tions that  had  long  prevailed  —  Statistics  for  the  early  twentieth  cen- 
tury reveal  the  full  influence  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  —  Change 
in  the  relative  importance  in  industry  and  agriculture  —  Tables  for 
British  India  in  1901;  France  in  1866;  the  German  Empire  in  1895 
and  1907;  France,  in  1901  and  1906;  England  and  Wales  hi  1811, 
1821,  1891,  and  1901  —  Primary  factors  in  industrial  location  in  the 
old  and  in  the  new  order  —  Humidity  and  cotton  spuming  —  Min- 
eral deposits  —  Problems  of  commercial  availability  —  Influence  of 
the  Industrial  Revolution  upon  population  —  Gregory  King's  fore- 
cast, 1693  —  Actual  growth  of  population  in  England  .  .  .  257 

Chronology  of  the  Industrial  Revolution:  Stages  in  the  develop- 
ment of  inventions  —  Significance  to  the  individual  inventor  of  the 
technical  equipment  of  society  —  Invention  in  the  larger  sense  a 
social  accomplishment 271 

CHAPTER  XI 
THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  AND  THE  VESTED  INTERESTS 

The  English  and  Dutch  Companies  for  trade  with  the  East  Indies 
—  The  novelty  of  Indian  cottons  —  Development  of  the  trade  — 
Limitation  of  the  expansion  of  English  trade  in  the  Spice  Islands  — 
Establishments  on  the  continent  of  India  —  Distress  in  the  woolen 
and  silk  industries  —  Agitation  for  protection  —  The  Act  of  1696-97, 
to  prohibit  the  wearing  of  East  Indian  goods  —  Contrast  between 
the  French  and  English  policies  of  protection — Relation  of  the  com- 
mercial issue  to  party  politics  in  England  —  The  East  India  Com- 
pany the  focus  of  discussions  of  commercial  policy  throughout  the 
seventeenth  century  —  Thomas  Mun's  defense  of  the  Company  — 
The  place  of  the  balance-of -trade  doctrine  in  the  controversy  —  Ne- 


xiv  CONTENTS 

gotiations  of  1713  with  France  —  Complexity  of  the  political  issue  — 
The  Calico  Act  of  1721  —  Exceptions  made  in  favor  of  the  existing 
cotton  industry  —  Discrepancy  between  the  expectations  of  the 
woolen  manufacturers  and  the  results  of  the  protective  legisla- 
tion   276 

CHAPTER  XII 
THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 

I.  The  relation  of  invention  to  the  rise  of  the  cotton  industry  —  The 
process  of  spinning  —  Carding  machines  —  Continuous  and  inter- 
mittent processes  of  spinning — The  throstle,  its  limitations — Grades 
of  yarn  —  Wyatt's  claims  as  an  inventor  —  Probable  relations  be- 
tween Wyatt  and  Paul  —  Paul's  spinning  patent  of  1758  —  Com- 
mercial ventures  of  Wyatt  and  Paul  —  Generality  of  interest  in  the 
problem  of  mechanical  spinning  —  Arkwright's  early  career  —  Work 
on  the  spinning  machine  —  The  patent  suits  —  The  jenny  —  Cromp- 
ton's  mule;  its  accomplishments,  immediately  and  ultimately;  its  in- 
fluence upon  the  industry  —  Development  of  the  power-loom  .  .  287 

II.  The  expansion  of  the  cotton  industry:  Statistics  of  consumption  of 
raw  cotton  —  Values  of  merchandise  exported  —  Values  of  goods 
consumed  at  home  and  of  exports  compared  with  similar  statistics 
of  woolens  and  linens — Relative  importance  of  the  different  branches 
of  the  textile  manufacture  —  The  influence  of  the  spinning  inven- 
tions upon  the  costs  of  yarn,  1779-1882  —  Comparison  of  labor  costs 
of  mule  spinning  with  labor  costs  in  India 302 

CHAPTER  XIII 
THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES 

I.  A  new  fuel  and  a  new  furnace :  The  change  of  fuel  not  an  adequate  in- 
dex of  the  character  of  the  transformation  of  the  metal  trades  —  Sub- 
stitution of  the  indirect  for  the  direct  process  —  Malleable  iron,  cast 
iron,  steel  —  Persistence  of  the  direct  process  due  to  mechanical 
limitations  —  Unsatisfactory  results  of  the  direct  process  —  Types 
of  furnace  —  Transformation  of  the  high  bloomery  furnace  into  the 
modern  blast  furnace  —  Dudley's  experiments  —  The  Darbys  at 
Colebrookdale  —  Perfection  of  a  coke-burning  furnace  —  Need  of 
blast  —  Smeaton's  blast  pump 314 

II.  James  Watt  and  the  steam  engine:  The  Newcomen  engine  —  Watt's 
training  and  profession  —  Scientific  study  of  heat  and  the  Newcomen 
engine  —  His  inspiration  —  Change  in  the  character  of  the  engine 
as  result  of  Watt's  condensing  chamber  —  Mechanical  difficulties  en- 
countered in  building  engines  —  Causes  of  these  difficulties  —  Im- 
portance of  the  development  of  the  lathe  —  The  slide  rest  .  .  324 

III.  The  metallurgical  problems  of  the  iron  industry:  Difficulty  of  elimi- 
nating carbon  —  The  reverberatory  furnace  —  Onions'  description  of 


CONTENTS  xv 

his  method  of  puddling  —  Uncertainty  of  the  nature  of  Cort's  con- 
tribution—  Development  of  the  rolling  mill — New  products      .      .  329 

IV.  Sir  Henry  Bessemer:  Special  significance  of  his  career  —  Early  train- 
ing and  inventions  —  The  bronze  powder  scheme  —  Necessity  for 
secrecy  —  The  capacity  of  machine-makers  tested  by  the  mode  of 
awarding  contracts  for  the  machines  —  Importance  of  the  achieve- 
ment indicated  by  their  success  in  executing  the  contracts  —  Further 
experimentation  —  Genesis  of  the  steel  project  —  Original  purpose 

—  Decarburization  by  means  of  a  blast  of  air  —  Development  of 
the  converter  —  Announcement  of  the  new  process  —  Disappoint- 
ments —  Importance  of  non-phosphorus-bearing  ores  —  The  Thomas 
and  Gilchrist  patent — Its  influence  upon  the  geography  of  the  Euro- 
pean iron  industry       334 

CHAPTER  XIV 
THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM 

I.  The  definition  of  a  factory:  The  factory  presumed  by  early  writers 
to  be  dependent  upon  machinery  —  Aggregation  of  workers  and  fac- 
tory discipline  —  Irksomeness  of  discipline  —  Early  experimenta- 
tion with  the  factory  system  —  Reasons  for  the  late  development  — 
Factories  without  machinery 346 

IL  Legal  obstacles  to  the  establishment  of  the  factory  system:  Eliza- 
bethan legislation  —  Breakdown  of  the  system  of  apprenticeship  — 
The  knit  stocking  industry  —  Troubles  in  the  West  Riding  —  The 
attempt  to  apply  the  Statute  of  Apprentices  —  The  Woolen  Inquiry 
and  the  Report  of  1806 352 

HI.  The  rise  and  progress  of  the  factory  system:  The  earliest  factories  — 
Development  of  factories  in  the  cotton  industry  at  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  —  Conditions  in  the  woolen  industry  —  Fac- 
tories and  the  factory  population  in  1816  —  Abnormal  proportion 
of  women  and  children  —  Probable  explanation  —  Changes  in  the 
worsted  industry  —  Pauper  apprenticeship  —  Attempts  at  regula- 
tion —  Likelihood  of  misjudging  the  progress  of  the  factory  system 

—  Proportions  of  the  industrial  population  in  factories  at  various 
dates  —  The  occupational  returns  of  1901 355 

[  IV.  Artisans  and  machinery :  Influence  of  the  transition  upon  the  workers 
less  certain  than  frequently  supposed  —  Little  evidence  of  hardship 
among  skilled  artisans  —  Importance  of  the  introduction  of  un- 
skilled labor  in  the  textile  trades  —  Various  causes,  of  distress  — 
Machinery  an  emancipating  force 363 

CHAPTER  XV 
THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING 

L  The  wage-fixing  clauses  of  the  Statute  of  Apprentices  —  Uncertainty 
v  of  the  extent  of  their  application  —  Journeymen's  organizations  in 


xvi  CONTENTS 

London:  1667  and  1696  —  Weavers'  clubs  in  the  West  of  England 
about  1727  —  Webb's  interpretation  of  the  Act  of  1756  —  Evidence 
of  collective  bargaining  —  The  Spitalfields  riots  —  "Subscription 
societies"  —  The  Spitalfields  Act:  1773  —  Mode  of  administration 
—  Later  history  of  the  act  —  Wages  regulated  according  to  the  price 
of  bread  —  The  ribbon  manufacture  at  Coventry  —  The  big  purl 
time  —  The  list  of  1813  —  Organizations  of  the  weavers  to  resist  de- 
pression of  wages  —  Difficulty  of  enforcing  the  list  of  1816  —  Peti- 
tion for  an  extension  of  the  Spitalfields  Act  —  Repeal  of  the  act  — 
Wage  lists  at  Coventry 367 

IL  The  Combination  Laws:  Difficulty  of  estimating  the  importance  of 
the  Combination  Laws  of  1799  and  1800  —  Not  generally  enforced — 
Probable  purpose  of  the  Act  of  1799  —  The  conception  of  status  — 
The  Act  of  1800  —  The  doctrine  of  conspiracy  ....  .377 

III.  The  Laws  of  1824  and  1825:  Francis  Place  —  Beginning  of  the  agi- 
tation for  repeal  of  the  Combination  Laws  —  Contact  with  Hume 
and  M'Culloch  —  The  Committee  of  1824  —  Preparation  of  the 
text  of  the  acts  —  Anticipations  of  Place  —  Immediate  results  of  re- 
peal —  The  Committee  of  1825  —  Differences  between  the  Acts  of 
1824  and  1825  —  New  importance  given  to  the  doctrine  of  conspir- 
acy —  Difficulties  of  unionists  —  The  Act  of  1871;  a  satisfactory  but 
legally  ambiguous  position 380 

CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  AND  WELFARE  BY  THE 

STATE  « 

I.  Obstacles  to  reform  and  the  reformers:  New  social  problems  and  the 
unref ormed  constitution  —  Difficulty  of  creating  a  central  adminis- 
tration in  a  Parliamentary  system  —  The  ideal  of  local  self-govern- 
ment —  Development  of  the  agitations  for  social  regulation  and  for 
free  trade  —  A.  A.  Cooper,  the  seventh  Earl  of  Shaf tesbury  —  Edwin 
Chadwick 387 

IL  Sanitation:  Sewers  and  methods  of  removing  waste  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century  —  Conditions  in  the  poorer  districts:  Liverpool  — 
Chadwick's  conception  of  the  modern  system  —  Investigations  by 
the  Poor  Law  Commissioners  —  The  Public  Health  Act  of  1848  — 
Failure  of  the  first  Board  of  Health  —  Accomplishments  of  the  period 
1854-71  —  The  legislation  of  1871  —  Unfortunate  policy  in  the  de- 
partmental organization  of  the  Local  Government  Board  —  The 
Ministry  of  Health  Act:  1919 395 

HL  Housing:  Importance  of  housing  to  public  health  —  Shaftesbury's 
act  —  The  Torrens  Act:  1868  —  The  Cross  Act:  1875  —  Subsequent 
development  of  the  building  code  —  Relative  failure  of  the  recon- 
structive aspects  of  this  legislation  —  The  new  housing  problem  .  403 

IV.  Factory  legislation:  Unwillingness  of  Parliament  to  legislate  di- 


CONTENTS  xvii 

rectly  with  reference  to  adult  men  except  in  "  dangerous  trades"  — 
Laissez-faire  doctrines  unimportant  in  the  history  of  factory  legis- 
lation —  Necessity  of  correlation  between  the  spread  of  the  factory 
system  and  the  development  of  factory  legislation  —  Nature  of  op- 
position to  factory  legislation  in  Parliament  —  Acts  prior  to  1833 
—  The  agitation  begun  in  1831  —  The  Act  of  1833  —  Regulation  of 
hours  —  Extension  of  the  factory  code  to  other  industries  by  the 
Acts  of  1867  and  1878  —  Unsatisfactory  character  of  the  statistics 
collected  by  the  factory  inspectors  —  Dangerous  trades  .  .  .  407 

V.  The  relief  of  destitution:  The  Elizabethan  Poor  Law  —  The  Law  of 
Settlement:  1662  —  Increase  in  the  amount  of  destitution  in  the  late 
eighteenth  century  —  Causes  —  Depression  following  the  Napo- 
leonic Wars  —  Abandonment  of  Cholesbury  to  the  poor  —  The 
mixed  workhouse  and  out-relief  —  Abuse  of  the  Poor  Law  by  land- 
lords and  farmers  —  Chadwick's  proposals  —  Inadequacy  of  the 
Poor  Law  of  1834  —  The  Royal  Commission  of  1909  .  .  .  .415 

VI.  Social  insurance:  Relation  of  insurance  to  the  relief  of  destitution  — 
Variety  of  contingencies  to  be  met  —  Possibilities  of  shifting  the  bur- 
den of  providing  for  disability  —  Insurance  a  superior  form  of  pro- 
vision for  distress  —  Liability  of  employers  under  the  common  law  — 
The  Compensation  Act  —  Hostility  of  workingmen's  organizations  — 
Insurance  against  sickness  and  disability  —  Unemployment  —  Old 
Age  —  Probable  accomplishments  of  this  legislation  ....  422 

CHAPTER  XVII 
THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY 

I.  Early  private  tram  lines  —  Lines  projected  by  canal  companies  as 
common  carriers  —  Richard  Trevithick  and  the  non-condensing  en- 
gine —  Steam-driven  coaches  on  the  highways  —  Development  of 
the  tram  lines  by  the  collieries  in  the  Newcastle  field  —  George 
Stephenson  —  Relation  of  northern  experiments  with  the  locomo- 
tive to  Trevithick's  work  —  Stephenson's  experiments  with  the  re- 
sistances created  by  grades  —  The  Stockton  and  Darlington  Rail- 
way —  Examination  of  different  methods  of  steam  traction  by  the 
promoters  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  project  —  Stephenson's 
plan  for  the  line  —  The  locomotive  contest  —  The  "Rocket"  .  .431 

II.  Growth  of  the  railway  system:  1830-46:  Predominance  of  local  in- 
terests in  early  projects  —  Through  traffic  —  Beginnings  of  amal- 
gamation —  The  Midland  Counties  lines  —  Formation  of  the  Mid- 
land Railway:  1844  —  The  Great  Western  —  Its  broad  gauge  .  .  443 

III.  The  rise  of  competition:  1846-73:  Competitive  traffic  regions  —  Be- 
ginnings of  the  East  Coast  Route — The  London  and  North  Western 
connection  with  Scotland — The  London- York  projects — The  Great 
Northern  —  The  rate  war  —  The  Octuple  agreement  —  Schemes  for 
amalgamations  in  1853  —  The  issue  before  Cardwell's  committee  — 


xviii  CONTENTS 

Effect  of  its  decisions  upon  the  development  of  the  Midland  Railway 

—  The  attitude  of  the  Midland  towards  third-class  passengers  .      .  448 

CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS 

Costs  of  railway  construction  —  Parliamentary  costs  —  The  general 
character  of  Parliamentary  procedure  —  Provisions  of  the  early  char- 
ters —  Beginnings  of  regulation  —  The  Act  of  1845  —  Provision  for 
non-discriminatory  rates  —  Attempts  to  provide  administrative 
supervision  —  The  Railway  Commission  of  1873  —  Careful  discrim- 
ination of  the  Committee  of  1853  in  stating  the  advantages  of  the 
policy  of  maintaining  competition  —  Report  of  the  Departmental 
Committee  of  1911  —  Likelihood  of  nationalization  of  the  rail- 
ways   459 

Status  of  pooling  agreements — Methods  of  rate-making  —  Growth 
of  opposition  among  the  traders  —  Agitation  for  a  general  revision  of 
rates  —  The  Act  of  1888  and  the  new  rates  —  Uncompromising  at- 
titude of  the  railways  —  The  Act  of  1894  —  Reasonable  rates  —  De- 
clining rates  of  dividends  —  Growth  of  combination  among  rail- 
ways  468 

CHAPTER  XIX 
COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES 

I.  Relatively  late  date  of  the  combination  movement  in  Great  Britain 

—  Significance  of  studying  the  causes  of  differences  in  the  progress  of 
the  movement  in  different  countries  —  Character  and  location  of  the 
mineral  resources  of  Great  Britain  —  Monopolistic  control  of  the 
Newcastle  coal  trade  before  the  development  of  rail  competition  — 
Relation  of  iron  deposits  to  monopoly  —  Dependence  of  Great  Brit- 
ain upon  foreign  markets 475 

II.  Temporary  and  permanent  combinations  —  Vertical  and  horizontal 
combinations  —  A  vertical  combination  in  the  shipbuilding  indus- 
try —  Advantages  of  such  integration  —  Combinations  in  the  thread 
industry 479 

III.  Interpretations  of  the  combination  movement  by  socialists  and  radi- 
cals —  The  conservative  view 493 

CHAPTER  XX 
INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST 

I.  Material  well-being:  Reduced  death-rates  the  best  evidence  we  have 
of  improved  living  conditions  —  Effect  of  social  changes  upon  dif- 
ferent classes  —  General  rates  of  wages  unsatisfactory  —  Differentia- 
tion between  the  skilled  and  the  unskilled  —  Unskilled  workers  close 
to  the  poverty  line  —  Bowley's  estimates  of  wages  during  the  nine- 


CONTENTS  xix 

teenth  century  —  Relative  changes  in  incomes  above  and  below 
£160  per  year  —  Giffen's  evidence  of  the  increase  of  the  smaller  in- 
comes —  The  problem  of  large  fortunes  —  Chiozza  Money's  indict- 
ment of  the  existing  social  order  —  Difficulties  in  interpreting  the 
statistics  of  the  concentration  of  wealth 499 

II.  Chartism:  Intellectual  basis  of  chartism  —  Development  of  the  pro- 
gram by  a  group  of  London  artisans  —  The  Charter  —  The  revolu- 
tionary tendencies  of  northern  agitators  —  The  influence  of  the  Bir- 
mingham group  —  Collapse  of  the  movement 512 

III.  The  unions  and  the  socialists:  The  ideal  of  a  national  "Trades 
Union"  —  Owen's  influence  —  The  Grand  National  Consolidated 
Trades  Union  —  The  Dorchester  Laborers  —  The  National  Asso- 
ciation of  the  United  Trades  —  The  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engi- 
neers —  It  becomes  the  model  union  —  Parliamentary  activities  — 
Growth  of  the  Independent  Labour  Party 518 

SELECTED  REFERENCES i 

INDEX  .  xix 


MAPS 

Relative  Densities  of  Population,  1086        .      .      .      .      .     .    ...    95 

Relative  Densities  of  Population,  1377 •    .    96 

Relative  Densities  of  Population,  1570 .97 

Relative  Densities  of  Population,  1600 .98 

Relative  Densities  of  Population,  1700 .99 

Sketch  of  the  Enclosure  Map  of  Stow,  Lincolnshire,  1804     .      .      .112 
Map  locating  the  Important  Surveys  and  Terriers  referred  to  in 

"Gray's  English  Field  Systems" 117 

The  Plan  of  a  Manor 127. 

The  Great  Fairs  and  Staple  Ports    .........  139 

TheHanse 148 

Rural  Areas  identified  with  the  Woolen  Industries  about  1550    .      .  210 

Competitive  Railway  Systems,  1843 445 

Competitive  Railway  Systems,  1853 453 

Competitive  Railway  Systems,  1885      . 455 


FIGURES 

1.  The  Throstle 289 

2.  Paul's  Spinning  Machine,  1758 293 

3.  Improved  Model  of  Hargreaves's  Spinning  Jenny    ....  298 

4.  Crompton's  Mule 299 

5.  Osmund  Furnace 316 

6.  Furnace  with  Water-Blowing  Apparatus      ......  317 

7.  Detail  of  Water-Blowing  Apparatus 318 

8.  A  Norwegian  Bloomery  Furnace .      .319 

9.  Blast  Furnace         322 

10.  Developed  Cylindrical  Blowing  Engine 323 

11.  Apparatus  used  by  Watt  in  Experiments  to  demonstrate  the 

Advantages  of  a  Separate  Condensing  Chamber  ....  326 

12.  Section  of  an  Engine  set  up  by  Watt  at  Chacewater  in  Corn- 

wall, 1777 327 

13.  The  Reverberatory  Furnace 329 

14.  PurneU's  Rolls 332 

15.  A  Modern  Rolling  Mill  for  the  Production  of  Rails  .      .      .      .333 

16.  Bessemer  Converting  Vessel 342 

17.  Vertical  Section  of  the  Bessemer  Converter       .  .      .  343 


xxii  GRAPHS 


GRAPHS 

I.  Imports  of  Raw  Cotton  and  Exports  of  Manufactures,  1700- 

1800 304 

II.  Imports  of  Raw  Cotton  and  Exports  of  Manufactures,  1801- 

1881 306 

III.  Relative  Values  of  Textile  Products,  consumed  at  Home  and 

exported 307 

IV.  Percentages  of  Raw  Materials  used  in  the  Textile  Trades,  1798 

to  1882 309 

V.  Selling  Price  of  Cotton  Yarn,  Number  40,  and  Cost  of  Raw  Cot- 
ton, 1779-1882 311 

VI.  Selling  Price  of  Cotton  Yarn,  Number  100,  and  Cost  of  Raw 

Cotton,  1779-1882 311 

VII.  Labor  Costs  of  Spinning  per  Pound  of  Yarn     .      *     •     .        312 


AN  INTRODUCTION  TO  THE 
INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

CHAPTER  I 
FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION 

I.  SOCIALISTS  AND  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY 

WHEN  the  German  socialist  Rodbertus  began  his  studies 
of  the  history  of  industry,  it  soon  became  evident  that  some 
considerable  degree  of  continuity  of  develop-  n 

.Beginnings  ot 

ment  could  be  found.  Forms  of  industrial  industrial  MS- 
organization  appeared  in  various  places  which  tory 
could  be  arranged  in  logical  sequence;  beginning  with  simple 
forms  and  passing  with  minute  gradations  to  the  highly  com- 
plex forms  of  modern  industrial  society.  The  socialists  were 
profoundly  interested  in  the  non-capitalistic  forms  of  organ- 
ization and  in  the  slow  emergence  of  distinct  classes  of  capi- 
talists and  wage-earners.  An(  economic  interpretation  of 
history  began  to  develop  which  was  profoundly  influenced  by 
the  socialists  though  not  confined  to  them.  Many  of  the 
features  of  industrial  history  that  appealed  to  them  were 
the  obvious  superficial  generalizations  that  would  appeal 
to  any  casual  investigator.  The  logical  progression  of  these 
forms  of  industrial  organization  made  the  schemes  particu- 
larly attractive  to  persons  with  theoretical  interests.  Gener- 
alizations have  thus  become  current  in  economic  writing 
that  are  largely  due  to  socialistic  writers;  they  represent, 
however,  a  superficial  interpretation  of  history  that  possesses 
all  the  attractions  of  a  plausible  and  simple  account.  The 
views  are  not  obviously  distorted  by  socialistic  doctrine,  but 
they  are  the  basis  of  some  unfortunate  conclusions  and  they 
are  so  misleading  that  they  cannot  serve  as  a  guide  to  further 
critical  study  of  industrial  problems. 
The  course  of  industrial  history  was  sketched  by  these 


2  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

writers  somewhat  as  follows.  In  Greece  and  Rome,  indus- 
The  socialistic  trial  development  was  dominated  by  slavery 
interpretation  an(j  COnfined  to  the  household.  Some  large- 
scale  production  was  made  possible  by  the  aggregation  of 
considerable  numbers  of  slaves  in  the  patriarchal  household, 
but  even  in  such  cases  the  industrial  establishment  was 
merely  a  part  of  the  household.  Little  material  equipment 
was  used.  Production  was  directly  dependent  upon  labor. 
The  power  of  the  director  of  industrial  enterprise  was  de- 
rived from  his  ownership  of  men.  This  system  disappeared 
after  the  fall  of  Rome,  and  when  industry  became  important 
in  the  towns  of  the  middle  ages  the  free  artisan  was  the  basis 
of  the  development.  The  artisan  was  economically  inde- 
pendent and  the  strength  of  his  material  position  made  pos- 
sible the  successful  struggle  for  political  privileges  and  free- 
dom that  marks  the  rise  of  the  Third  Estate.  This  period 
of  industrial  freedom  was  tenderly  idealized  by  the  socialists, 
and,  by  one  of  those  strange  paradoxes,  the  middle  ages, 
which  were  stigmatized  in  agrarian  history  as  a  period  of  hid- 
eous oppression,  were  characterized  as  the  golden  age  of 
industrial  development.  The  artisan  was  a  skilled  master  of 
his  craft,  possessed  of  sufficient  freedom  of  expression  to  give 
full  scope  to  that  " instinct  of  workmanship"  that  makes 
work  a  pleasure.  He  owned  his  material  equipment  and  sold 
his  product  directly  to  the  consumer.  There  were  no  capi- 
talists to  exploit  workman  or  consumer;  no  employers,  no 
middlemen. 

The  development  of  the  trader  created  an  opportunity  for 
the  capitalist.  The  formation  of  a  mercantile  class  soon  re- 
The  merchant  sulted  in  the  subordination  of  the  artisan  to  the 
becomes  a  capi-  merchant;  the  merchant  supplied  the  raw  ma- 
terials, employed  the  artisan  to  perform  the 
skilled  craft-work,  and  sold  the  product  to  the  consumer. 
Distinctions  thus  arose  between  the  workers  and  the  direc- 
tors of  industrial  enterprise.  The  establishment  of  the  fac- 
tory system  completed  the  transition  from  the  non-capital- 
istic to  the  capitalistic  system  and  reduced  the  artisan  to  the 
status  of  the  modern  wage-earner,  without  proprietary  rights 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  3 

in  the  industrial  process  and  without  any  vital  economic  free- 
dom. The  attitude  of  the  socialists  is  adequately  conveyed 
by  the  phrase  "wage  slavery"  so  frequently  used  by  them. 
This  interpretation  of  industrial  history  is  based  on  half- 
truths:  there  is  an  undue  sharpening  of  many  antitheses, 
and  many  details  are  excluded  that  are  funda-  c 

J  Superficiality  of 

mental.  These  weaknesses  from  the  point  of  the  socialistic 
view  of  critical  scholarship  have  been  a  source  v 
of  strength  in  propaganda.  The  socialistic  interpretation 
is  not  only  easy  to  understand;  it  is  the  only  interpretation 
that  is  easy  to  understand.  The  Greeks  had  an  old  saying, 
"Hard  is  the  good";  hard  also  is  devotion  to  truth.  It  is 
notably  difficult  to  secure  any  adequate  approximation  to  the 
whole  truth.  Merely  because  of  its  simplicity,  this  inter- 
pretation, in  the  main  socialistic  in  origin  and  tenor,  has 
gained  wide  currency  in  economic  literature  until  its  short- 
comings are  overcome  by  mere  force  of  iteration.  Biicher's 
writings,  in  particular,  have  given  wide  currency  to  the  gen- 
eralizations that  originated  with  Rodbertus,  and  the  brilliant 
descriptions  of  Biicher's  Industrial  Evolution  have  appar- 
ently established  them  in  the  scientific  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  destructive  criticism  of  Edouard  Meyer  and  other 
historians  of  antiquity  has  made  little  impression,  though  the 
interpretation  of  Bucher  has  been  shown  to  be  palpably 
wrong.  The  extraordinary  vitality  of  these  erroneous  inter- 
pretations thus  creates  critical  problems  that  cannot  be 
avoided  even  hi  a  general  sketch  of  industrial  history. 

II.  THE  TYPICAL  FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION 

In  the  description  of  industrial  growth  there  are  two  dis- 
tinct problems,  which  are  significantly  related,  though  by  no 
means  identical.  There  is  need  of  careful  description  of  the 
forms  of  industrial  organization  which  succeed  each  other. 
There  is  need  also  of  study  of  the  conditions  that  produce 
this  progression  from  the  simpler  to  the  more  complex  forms. 
It  is  peculiarly  unfortunate  to  assume  that  the  mam  task  is 
completed  when  certain  forms  have  been  arranged  in  a  logical 
sequence. 


4  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  general  designations  of  the  typical  forms  need  not  be 
modified;  the  following  forms  can  be  distinguished:  house- 
The  essential  hold  industry,  wage-work,  craft-work,  the  put- 
forms  ting-out  system,  the  factory  system.  Many 
refinements,  however,  should  be  added  to  the  characteriza- 
tion of  these  types. 

The  simplest  of  these  types  is  household  industry,  or  more 
specifically  undiversified  household  industry.  This  stage 
Household  of  industrial  development  precedes  any  speciali- 
industry  zation  of  industry  into  crafts.  Logically,  in  the 

pure  type,  each  household  would  provide  for  its  own  in- 
dustrial wants.  No  products  would  be  exchanged  in  such 
a  society.  Productive  effort  would  be  directed  solely  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  wants  of  the  household.  The  logical 
requirements  of  the  definition  of  this  most  primitive  indus- 
trial form  make  it  somewhat  unreal.  There  is  some  truth 
in  the  implication  that  primitive  peoples  engage  in  few  ac- 
tivities that  are  not  designed  to  satisfy  their  personal  wants. 
There  is  no  elaborate  division  of  labor  and  no  skilled  in- 
dustrial craftsmanship.  At  the  same  time  one  must  guard 
against  extremes.  Among  the  most  primitive  peoples  this 
complete  self-sufficiency  is  qualified  in  a  variety  of  ways, 
which  are  of  great  significance  in  indicating  the  process  of 
transition  to  a  more  elaborate  ordering  of  society. 

Mr.  Hilton-Simpson,  in  writing  of  the  peoples  of  the  Kasai, 
says  of  one  of  the  tribes  of  negroes  living  in  the  plains  south 
of  the  great  Congo  forest: 

The  chief  of  the  second  village  of  Makasu  appeared  by  no  means 
anxious  for  us  to  leave  at  once,  so  we  willingly  settled  down  to 
Primitive  spend  a  few  days  in  his  village,  where  we  could  enjoy 

industry  a  splendid  opportunity  of  studying  the  daily  life  of  a 

people  among  whom  European  influence  has  not  yet  begun  to  be 
felt.  Every  village  between  the  Loange  and  the  Kasai  appears  to 
be  entirely  self-supporting;  every  man  manufactures  his  own  gar- 
ments, weaving  the  cloth  from  palm  fiber  in  the  same  way  as  do 
the  Bushongo;  accompanied  by  his  dogs,  he  participates  in  hunt- 
ing expeditions,  supplying  his  family  with  meat  from  his  share  of 
the  game,  and  the  Bashilele  hunters  are  far  superior  to  their  kins- 
men around  the  Mushenge;  he  makes  his  own  bows,  bowstrings,  and 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  5 

the  shafts  for  his  arrows,  while  he  forms  and  decorates  with  carv- 
ing the  cups  from  which  he  drinks  his  palm  wine;  his  wives  culti- 
vate sufficient  land  to  supply  the  family  needs  with  cassava;  his 
children  tend  his  chickens  and  goats.  In  fact  the  only  things  which 
a  man  must  buy,  being  unable  to  make  them  for  himself,  are  iron 
objects,  such  as  arrow-  and  spear-heads,  knives  and  bracelets,  all 
of  which  are  the  work  of  the  village  blacksmith,  who  is  paid  for 
them  in  meat,  fowls,  foodstuffs,  or  palm  cloth.1 

This  village  blacksmith  seems  to  be  only  an  exception, 
something  that  can  be  neglected  in  generalization,  and  yet  if 
one  makes  comparison  of  the  relative  signifi-  The  household 
cance  of  this  iron  work  to  other  industrial  work  not  entirely 
actually  performed,  it  will  readily  appear  that 
the  proportion  of  industrial  need  actually  satisfied  by  this 
village  smith  was  far  from  being  inconsiderable.  It  is 
quite  true  that  these  natives  provided  largely  for  their  own 
wants,  but  it  is  no  less  true  that  we  find  in  their  village  life 
the  beginnings  of  specialized  craft- work.  Most  of  the  in- 
dustrial field  was  dominated  by  household  industry  of  the 
purest  type,  but  in  the  metal  trades  we  find  craftsmen  and 
the  beginnings  of  diversified  industry.  Any  European  would 
inevitably  be  primarily  impressed  by  the  relative  self-suffi- 
ciency of  the  villagers,  but  that  is  not  the  only  important  con- 
clusion to  be  drawn  from  a  study  of  their  village  life.  In 
studying  industrial  history  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  that 
no  one  form  of  organization  really  dominates  social  life  at  any 
particular  period. 

Among  the  bushmen  of  Australia  somewhat  different  quali- 
fications of  self-sufficiency  appear.  The  making  of  boomer- 
angs and  other  implements  involved  some  degree  of  skill. 
The  older  men  of  the  tribe  naturally  possessed  more  skill  than 
the  younger  men  in  this  carving  and  wood- working;  the  old 
men  were  likewise  less  fitted  to  endure  the  hardships  of  long 
expeditions.  A  variety  of  wares,  —  yellow  ochre  for  body 
painting,  whetstones,  and  a  narcotic  herb,  —  were  usually 
obtained  by  tribal  expeditions  which  involved  much  danger 
and  hardship.  A  ceremonial  friendship  could  be  estab- 

1  Hilton-Simpson,  M.  W.:  Land  and  Peoples  of  the  Kasai  (London,  1911), 
331. 


6  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

lished  between  two  men  by  virtue  of  which  the  older  man 
would  produce  certain  manufactured  products  to  exchange 
for  the  products  of  the  expedition.  There  was  thus  some  di- 
vision of  labor  among  the  men  of  the  tribe,  though  it  was  not 
as  marked  as  the  division  of  labor  among  the  metal-using 
tribes  of  Central  Africa. 

A  more  important  qualification  of  the  self-sufficiency  of  the 
primitive  industrial  household  appears  in  the  fairly  con- 
Primitive" trade  siderable  exchanges  that  take  place  at  times  be- 
considerabie  tween  different  tribes.  The  extent  of  this  inter- 
tribal trade  among  primitive  peoples  seems  to  depend  more 
upon  certain  external  circumstances  than  upon  the  grade  of 
culture.  Peoples  living  on  waterways  of  various  kinds  do 
more  trading  than  inland  peoples  like  the  Australian  bushmen. 
A  striking  instance  of  the  importance  of  intertribal  trade 
among  genuinely  primitive  people  is  afforded  by  conditions 
in  British  New  Guinea.  These  people  represent  a  low  grade 
of  culture,  and,  at  the  time  the  observations  were  made,  had 
been  scarcely  affected  by  European  influences.  There  are 
many  tribes  of  natives  inhabiting  the  small  islands  at  the 
southerly  tip  of  New  Guinea,  and  various  tribes  scattered 
at  intervals  along  the  coast  of  New  Guinea.  Among  these 
tribes  there  are  marked  specializations.  Some  tribes  made 
quantities  of  pottery  for  exchanges  with  other  tribes;  others 
made  stone  axes  for  actual  or  ceremonial  use.  One  island 
tribe  specialized  in  dugout  canoes.  These  products  circu- 
lated throughout  an  extensive  area,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  extent  of  the  trade  or  of  the  deliberate  character  of  the 
production  of  these  various  wares  for  the  general  market. 

Curiously  enough  there  was  some  specialization  between 
industrial  products  and  foodstuffs.  Some  portions  of  the 
Geographical  trading  area  raised  pigs  and  yams  with  which  to 
division  of  buy  shell  jewelry  and  pottery.  Certain  areas 
in  the  Gulf  of  Papua  produced  large  quantities 
of  sago  which  were  exchanged  for  shell  jewelry  and  pottery. 
This  trade  was  carried  on  annually,  and  sufficient  sago  was 
brought  back  by  the  pottery-making  villages  to  insure  them 
an  abundance  of  food  for  the  rest  of  the  season.  As  much 


as  two  or  three  hundred  tons  of  sago  might  be  brought  back 
by  the  annual  expedition.  This  specialization  of  industrial 
work  is  possible  without  any  genuine  development  of  crafts; 
the  industries  are  pursued  locally  because  the  raw  materials 
are  not  generally  available,  no  special  skill  is  displayed  hi  the 
product.  Each  household  of  each  village  would  be  engaged 
in  the  local  specialty,  and  at  times  the  form  of  the  trade  in- 
dicated that  each  household  of  one  village  traded  with  a 
household  of  the  other  village.  It  is  thus  thoroughly  justi- 
fiable to  distinguish  a  period  of  industrial  development  that 
precedes  the  appearance  of  specialized  crafts,  but  it  is  not 
wholly  sound  to  describe  such  a  primitive  society  in  terms 
of  unqualified  self-sufficiency.  There  was  some  trade  even 
in  the  most  primitive  tunes. 

The  importance  of  trade  under  such  conditions  can  best 
be  appreciated  if  we  think  of  frontier  conditions  that  are 
roughly  familiar  to  us  all.  In  many  frontier  The  frontier 
communities  there  is  no  diversified  industry.  household 
The  crude  textiles  used  are  produced  at  home,  and,  to  the 
casual  traveler,  it  may  seem  that  each  household  is  really  self- 
sufficient.  Such  backwoods  communities,  however,  may  be 
absolutely  dependent  upon  distant  markets  for  their  tools  and 
firearms,  and  perhaps  for  a  wider  range  of  commodities.  The 
settlement  is  perhaps  engaged  in  some  extractive  industry  or 
in  fur-hunting,  all  with  reference  to  the  demand  of  the  dis- 
tant market.  In  truth,  the  outlying  hamlet  which  seems  so 
independent  is  really  as  much  a  part  of  the  entire  industrial 
community  as  the  metropolitan  city. 

Even  when  qualifications  are  admitted,  it  is  difficult  to  find 
characteristic  illustrations  of  this  undiversified  household 
industry,  and  it  would  seem  that  industry  be-  The  crafts 
comes  specialized  into  the  various  handicrafts  developed  early 
at  a  very  early  cultural  stage.  The  evidence  of  early  culture 
collected  by  anthropologists  discloses  primitive  peoples  which 
are  for  the  most  part  possessed  of  some  craft-skill.  Only 
among  the  most  backward  of  these  undeveloped  races  do  we 
find  the  degree  of  self-sufficiency  that  coincides  with  this 
notion  of  the  pure  household  industry.  The  peoples  that 


8  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

emerge  into  the  field  of  knowledge  at  the  dawn  of  history 
had  likewise  acquired  some  craft-skill.  Not  all  the  crafts 
that  ultimately  arise  were  to  be  found  in  these  societies.  The 
process  of  craft  specialization  is  gradual;  industrial  pursuits 
are  withdrawn  from  the  household  one  by  one,  and  in  these 
early  periods  of  history  the  number  of  occupations  carried 
on  by  craftsmen  of  the  town  or  village  is  small.  The  earlier 
writers  have  been  disposed  to  characterize  such  social  condi- 
tions in  terms  of  the  self-sufficiency  that  was  being  nibbled 
away;  the  entire  truth  of  the  situation  would  seem  to  be  bet- 
ter expressed  by  describing  such  conditions  in  terms  of  the 
progression  towards  a  new  ordering  of  social  life.  In  this 
sense  the  outstanding  feature  of  early  economic  life  is  the 
rise  of  the  handicrafts. 

Rodbertus  and  Biicher  have  endeavored  to  give  an  ex- 
tended meaning  to  the  conception  of  household  industry, 
industrial  They  recognize  a  secondary  form  in  which  the 
slaves  natural  monogamic  family  is  enlarged  by  the 

addition  of  slaves.  It  is  beyond  doubt  that  large  numbers 
were  used  as  an  industrial  force  by  the  heads  of  many  house- 
holds in  the  ancient  world.  It  was  possible  even  to  develop 
production  on  a  considerable  scale,  and  we  know  of  numbers 
of  establishments  in  the  various  trades  that  must  have  pre- 
sented the  superficial  aspects  of  small  factories.  Assuming 
that  most  of  the  operatives  in  such  establishments  were  slaves, 
Rodbertus  and  Biicher  did  not  hesitate  to  classify  them  as 
industrial  households. 

Beloch,  Meyer,  and  other  historians  of  antiquity  have 
shown  that  the  number  of  slaves  was  seriously  overestimated 
im  ortance  of  ^y  Rodbertus  and  Biicher.  The  free  artisan 
slavery  in  was  a  larger  factor  in  industrial  life  than  was 
at  first  supposed.  It  is  therefore  difficult  to 
form  an  exact  notion  of  the  relations  between  masters  and 
workmen  in  the  shops  and  establishments  of  the  ancient 
world.  There  were  some  slave  establishments,  but  there  were 
many  enterprises  that  relied  upon  free  labor,  and  on  the 
whole  it  would  seem  better  to  admit  the  presence  of  small 
factories  than  to  attempt  to  obscure  the  existence  of  some 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION  9 

large-scale  production  by  an  adroit  definition  of  terms.  The 
classification  of  the  socialists  is  indefensible  also  in  respect 
to  the  purpose  of  this  production.  They  are  constrained  to 
affirm  that  the  operations  of  the  household  were  Production  for 
designed  to  meet  the  needs  of  the  household  as  tt  market 
distinct  from  being  production  for  the  market.  Now  it  is, 
of  course,  true  that  the  household  of  classical  antiquity  was 
more  largely  self-centered  than  the  modern  household,  but 
it  is  not  true  that  these  great  slave  establishments  were  con- 
cerned with  producing  goods  for  consumption  on  the  estate. 
Pottery,  metals,  and  textiles  of  the  higher  grade  were  all 
widely  distributed  throughout  the  ancient  world,  and  this 
trade  was  no  mere  incidental  feature  of  Graeco-Roman  indus- 
trial life.  The  production  of  the  craftsmen  of  the  ancient 
world  was  undertaken  with  reference  to  markets,  and  in  no 
small  measure  for  distant  markets.  It  is  therefore  doubly 
misleading  to  characterize  the  industrial  forms  of  classical 
antiquity  as  household  industry.  Occupations  were  rapidly 
becoming  distinct  crafts  and  thus  being  withdrawn  from 
the  sphere  of  undiversified  household  work.  These  changes 
were  largely  a  result  of  the  gradual  expansion  of  commerce 
in  the  Mediterranean  world.  None  of  the  implications  of 
the  simplest  industrial  category  correspond  to  conditions  in 
the  ancient  world. 

The  notion  of  a  craft  occupation  may  present  some  little 
difficulty  because  among  primitive  peoples  it  is  not  uncom- 
mon to  find  industries  practiced  by  the  entire  f 

.  Craft-industry 

population  of  certain  localities.  Such  speciali- 
zation represents  progress  toward  craft-work,  but  it  would 
seem  wise  to  consider  such  diversification  a  preliminary  stage 
in  the  general  division  of  labor.  Similarly  the  division  of 
labor  between  men  and  women  must  be  regarded  as  ante- 
cedent to  the  development  of  genuine  crafts.  The  develop- 
ment of  specialized  craft-skill  is  clearly  evident  only  in  cases 
of  specialization  in  particular  localities;  in  its  lowest  form 
this  specialization  appears  in  the  village  blacksmith  or  other 
such  artisan  charged  with  the  performance  of  all  the  work 
of  that  character  done  in  the  village.  Such  artisans  were 


10  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

common  in  the  Greek  villages  at  an  early  period;  they  were 
thought  of  as  servants  or  slaves  of  the  entire  village.  The 
rise  of  the  crafts  is  soon  indicated,  however,  by  the  existence 
of  some  considerable  number  of  independent  crafts  in  particu- 
lar towns  and  villages.  The  list  of  recognized  crafts  is  thus 
evidence  that  industry  has  reached  the  craft  stage  and  also 
the  basis  for  detailed  study  of  the  gradual  diversification  of 
industry  that  is  the  chief  feature  of  the  history  of  the  earlier 
portion  of  the  handicraft  period.  It  is  of  moment  to  ascer- 
The  crafts  tain  the  probable  order  of  emergence  of  the 
emerged  slowly  craf tS)  for  some  of  the  misconceptions  of  early 
industrial  history  are  due  to  the  assumption  that  the  relative 
inportance  of  the  different  crafts  and  occupations  has  always 
been  the  same.  References  in  classical  literature  to  the  spin- 
ning and  weaving  done  by  the  women  in  the  household  con- 
vey the  impression  that  nearly  everything  of  importance  was 
done  in  the  house.  The  significance  of  the  village  blacksmith 
is  lost  on  the  casual  reader  because  the  smith  work  does  not 
seem  as  important  as  the  textile  work,  but  it  is  not  to  be  as- 
sumed that  the  crafts  emerge  from  the  household  in  the  order 
of  the  intrinsic  importance  of  the  various  occupations. 

The  older  writers  have  distinguished  two  types  of  craft- 
workers:  wage- workers  and  craft- workers.  The  distinction 
wage-work  and  turns  upon  the  mode  of  payment  for  the  work.  If 
craft-work  ^he  raw  material  is  owned  by  the  consumer,  the 
craftsman  is  really  employed  by  him  to  perform  a  certain 
amount  of  skilled  labor  for  a  wage.  The  craftsman  does  not 
make  any  article  to  be  sold  in  the  market;  he  merely  sells 
his  services.  He  is  a  wage-earner,  though  there  is  no  special- 
ized employer.  If  the  raw  material  is  owned  by  the  crafts- 
man, he  must  produce  wares  to  be  sold  in  the  market,  and  he 
can  secure  a  return  for  his  labor  only  through  the  price  of  the 
finished  product. 

Logically  these  forms  may  be  arranged  in  sequence;  wage- 
are  not  differ-  WOI>k  may  be  regarded  as  a  lower  form  of  indus- 
ent  stages  in  try  than  craft  work,  but  there  is  no  historical 
justification  for  this  logical  assumption  that  these 
forms  represent  different  stages  in  development.  They  are 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         11 

alternative  forms  that  emerge  in  different  crafts.  Rarely, 
if  ever,  could  one  expect  to  find  a  craft  which  was  at  first 
practiced  according  to  the  form  of  wage-work  and  then  at 
a  later  date  according  to  the  form  of  craft-work.  It  will  be 
observed  that  some  crafts  are  of  such  a  nature  that  they  can 
be  most  effectively  remunerated  by  a  wage  payment.  The 
building  trades,  for  instance,  are  primarily  concerned  with 
the  performance  of  certain  skilled  services  for  the  benefit  of 
a  consumer.  The  raw  materials  can  be  most  readily  fur- 
nished by  the  consumer,  unless  society  is  sufficiently  diver- 
sified to  maintain  capitalist  contractors.  In  the  portions  of 
Europe  which  were  well  supplied  with  building  stone,  the 
material  used  was  characteristically  gotten  out  in  the  im- 
mediate locality,  usually  on  land  belonging  to  the  person 
for  whose  benefit  the  building  was  to  be  erected.  The  stone- 
masons employed  would  be  expected  to  get  out  their  stone. 
If  some  general  quarry  were  used,  the  stone  would  probably 
be  procured  by  the  consumer.  The  raw  materials  of  other 
crafts  were  such  that  they  could  most  suitably  be  procured 
by  the  craftsman  himself.  The  textile  workers  were  likely 
to  secure  their  own  raw  materials.  A  few  crafts  might  well 
work  according  to  both  systems.  The  candle-makers,  for 
instance,  might  produce  candles  for  a  general  market  by  mak- 
ing up  raw  materials  purchased  by  them.  They  might  also 
go  out  to  some  house  or  establishment  to  work  up  into  candles 
a  stock  of  grease  that  had  been  accumulated  there.  At  Paris, 
the  candle-makers  were  subjected  to  specific  regulations  as 
to  the  quality  of  grease  they  might  use  when  manufacturing 
for  the  general  market,  though  they  were  allowed  to  make 
up  any  kind  of  grease  for  a  particular  individual  if  the  work 
was  done  on  his  premises.  It  would  seem  that  the  distinction 
between  these  different  forms  of  payment  for  craft  service  is 
not  of  great  importance. 

There  are  two  distinct  stages  in  the  development  of  the 
crafts  which  are  of  primary  importance.     In  stages  fa  the 
the  earlier  stages  of  industrial  specialization,  growth  of 
the  crafts  emerge  as  occupations  which  pro- 
duce a  finished  product,  or  at  least  a  salable  product.   Cloth, 


12  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

for  instance,  can  be  used  without  being  bleached  or  dyed,  and 
it  is  fairly  certain  that  "grey"  cloth  was  used  extensively  in 
the  ancient  and  medieval  periods.  It  may  be  that  a  weaver 
would  sell  the  grey  cloth  to  a  prospective  consumer,  and  thus 
he  would  not  strictly  speaking  deal  in  a  finished  product.  We 
cannot  be  sure  whether  weavers  preceded  dyers  or  dyers  pre- 
ceded weavers  as  persons  exercising  distinct  crafts.  It  would 
seem  likely,  however,  that  some  persons  would  find  a  regular 
and  distinct  occupation  in  bleaching  and  dyeing  crude  home- 
spuns appreciably  before  weaving  became  a  specialized  occu- 
speciaiized  pation.  The  dyers  took  the  product  of  undi- 
occupations  versified  household  industry  and  gave  the  cloth 
a  finish  that  made  it  substantially  a  new  product.  Such 
a  craft  would  represent  more  or  less  exactly  the  notions 
commonly  held  of  craft-industry.  A  single  craft,  repre- 
sented always  by  a  particular  workman,  stands  between  the 
"raw  product"  and  the  consumer.  There  is  no  middleman, 
no  intermediate  processes  of  production  and  sale. 

Such  a  simple  situation  cannot  long  persist;  the  develop- 
ment of  craft  differentiation  tends  to  disintegrate  the  process 
Specialization  of  production  into  its  essential  stages,  and  finally 
by  processes  each  phase  of  the  transformation  of  the  primary 
raw  material  becomes  the  basis  of  a  separate  craft.  Thus 
in  the  textile  trades,  we  ultimately  find  distinct  crafts  of  wrool- 
combers,  weavers,  fullers,  dyers,  and  drapers.  Spinning 
never  became  a  craft-operation  in  the  legitimate  sense  of  the 
word;  it  was  a  subsidiary  employment  of  women  and  children 
that  required  no  specialized  skill.  The  production  of  textiles 
thus  came  to  be  the  work  of  a  group  of  crafts,  so  that  some 
of  the  workers  never  came  in  contact  with  the  consumer.  The 
direct  contact  with  the  consumer  that  is  so  strongly  empha- 
sized in  descriptions  of  craft-industry  does  not  apply  to  the 
later  stages  of  craft-development.  The  disintegration  of  the 
process  of  production  required  at  least  successive  sales  of 
partly  finished  goods.  Combers  might  sell  combed  wool  to 
weavers,  weavers  would  sell  grey  cloth  to  fullers  or  dyers, 
fullers  and  dyers  would  sell  finished  cloth  to  the  drapers 
who  undertook  to  sell  the  cloth  in  the  distant  market  that 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         13 

was  usually  contemplated.  A  considerable  division  of  labor 
might  thus  develop  without  breaking  down  the  independence 
of  the  craftsmen.  In  this  second  period  of  craft-diversifi- 
cation each  craft  was  a  link  in  a  chain  of  correlated  crafts. 
Sufficient  differentiation  to  give  rise  to  many  of  these  phe- 
nomena undoubtedly  existed  at  a  relatively  early  period  hi 
the  development  of  craft-industry.  The  notion  of  direct 
contact  between  producer  and  consumer  cannot  be  regarded 
as  characteristic  of  the  chief  period  of  craft-industry.  The 
simplicity  of  industrial  life  during  the  craft  period,  too,  has 
been  seriously  exaggerated.  The  multiplicity  of  special  crafts 
gave  rise  at  an  early  date  to  all  these  loose  coordinations  of 
groups  of  crafts  that  are  so  hard  for  us  to  appreciate. 

The  recognition  of  this  second  stage  of  craft-development 
is  particularly  important  because  it  furnishes  the  basis  for  the 
beginnings  of  capitalistic  control  of  industry.  Beginningof 
The  formation  of  a  considerable  group  of  crafts  capitalistic 
in  a  single  industry  brought  with  it  certain  tech- 
nical advantages  from  specialization  of  skill,  but  there  were 
certain  economic  disadvantages  as  long  as  the  crafts  remained 
entirely  independent.  The  successive  buying  and  selling  of 
partly  finished  products  were  sheer  waste  of  energy.  There 
was  also  no  possibility  of  exercising  any  supervision  over  the 
process  of  production.  These  disadvantages  could  be  over- 
come if  some  one  bought  the  primary  raw  material  at  the 
outset  and  then  hired  the  various  craftsmen  to  perform  their 
craft-work  for  wages.  A  capitalist  employer  of  this  type 
was  necessary  to  prevent  specialization  from  degenerating 
into  disorder.  The  tendency  toward  disintegration  was 
thus  offset  by  a  tendency  towards  integration:  there  was 
disintegration  hi  the  technique  of  production  followed  speed- 
ily by  integration  of  control. 

The  general  industrial  system  by  which  this  control  was  ex- 
ercised passes  under  a  great  variety  of  names.  It  has  been 
called  the  "domestic  system,"  because  the  workmen  are  gen- 
erally able  to  pursue  their  craft  in  their  homes.  This  term 
presents  an  antithesis  to  the  factory  system,  but  it  fails  to 
suggest  any  distinction  between  this  form  and  the  craft  sys- 


14  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND  ' 

tern.  Until  the  factory  appeared  the  household  was  the  scene 
of  nearly  all  industrial  labor;  the  fact  that  the  work  was  done 
at  home  is  thus  of  no  distinctive  significance.  The  phrase 
"commission  system"  has  also  been  used,  but  such  a  term 
suggests  a  relation  between  principle  and  agent  that  is  mean- 
ingless in  this  particular  phase  of  industrial  history.  The 
The " putting-  term  "putting-out  system"  is  neither  euphoni- 
out "  system  ous  nor  elegant,  but  it  has  the  merit  of  describ- 
ing the  salient  characteristics  of  this  type  of  industrial  organi- 
zation, and  it  suggests  the  features  that  distinguish  this  type 
both  from  the  craft  forms  that  precede  it  and  from  the  factory 
system  that  follows.  The  employer  owns  the  materials  and 
gives  them  out  to  various  craft-workers  who  carry  the  goods 
through  a  process  or  group  of  processes.  The  goods  are  then 
returned  to  the  employer,  and,  if  they  are  not  yet  finished, 
they  are  passed  on  to  other  workmen.  The  employer  must 
needs  be  a  capitalist :  he  owns  the  materials  during  the  proc- 
ess of  production  and  advances  wages  to  the  craftsmen.  At 
times  the  employer  may  own  tools  or  other  equipment  used 
in  production.  Instances  occur  in  the  nineteenth  century 
in  which  the  employer  owned  the  cottages  used  by  the  work- 
men; the  cottages  were  prepared  for  the  weavers  or  other 
craftsmen  and  rented  completely  equipped.  Not  infre- 
quently part  of  the  work  was  done  in  workshops  belonging  to 
the  capitalist  employer  and  under  immediate  supervision. 
This  was  most  commonly  the  case  with  reference  to  some  of 
the  finishing  processes  of  the  woolen  manufacture. 

The  putting-out  system  is  by  nature  highly  elastic,  ad- 
mitting of  many  gradations  of  capitalistic  control  of  the 
its  advantages  Process  of  production,  and  corresponding  va- 
and  historical  riety  in  the  degree  to  which  the  disintegration 
of  industry  into  separate  crafts  is  remedied  by 
centralized  direction.  The  scale  of  production,  too,  might 
vary  within  wide  limits.  Many  establishments  in  the 
woolen  industry  organized  on  this  system  employed  a  thou- 
sand hands,  and  though  the  number  of  employees  was  of 
course  somewhat  increased  by  the  absence  of  power  machin- 
ery the  scale  of  the  undertaking  was  really  considerable. 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION          15 

The  variety  of  detail  possible  in  this  system  enables  us  to  ap- 
preciate clearly  all  the  phases  of  the  long  transition  from  craft- 
work  to  the  factory,  and  the  minuteness  of  the  changes  af- 
fords interesting  illustrations  of  the  continuity  of  industrial 
development.  At  no  point  is  there  an  abrupt  transition  from 
the  old  to  the  new. 

In  the  main,  the  putting-out  system  merely  brought  a 
number  of  workmen  under  a  moderate  degree  of  supervision 
and  direction.  The  establishment  was  the  loosest  possible 
aggregation  of  workers.  The  development  of  this  form  does 
not  ordinarily  bring  with  it  any  increase  in  the  division  of 
labor.  It  was  primarily  an  antidote  for  excessive  disinte- 
gration. In  the  eighteenth  century,  however,  new  tendencies 
can  be  perceived  in  some  English  industries.  Weaving,  as 
practiced  by  the  craftsmen  of  the  old  school,  comprised  three 
distinct  operations  or  tasks :  preparation  of  the  warp ;  the  plac- 
ing of  the  warp  on  the  beam  of  the  loom;  and  the  throwing 
of  the  shuttle  through  the  warp.  The  preparation  of  the 
warp  and  the  setting-up  of  the  loom  required  much  skill, 
though  neither  task  required  as  much  tune  as  the  throwing 
of  the  shuttle.  Concentration  of  skilled  workmen  on  the 
preparatory  tasks  would  thus  make  it  possible  to  delegate 
the  laborious  work  with  the  shuttle  to  inferior  workmen, 
or  even  to  unskilled  beginners.  A  considerable  dilution  of 
skilled  workers  was  thus  possible. 

These  tendencies  were  not  merely  local,  nor  were  they  con- 
fined to  a  single  industry,  though  we  know  more  about  the 
woolen  industry.  These  beginnings  of  a  hori-  Horizontal 
zontal  division  of  labor,  the  splitting-up  of  the  division  of  tabor 
old  crafts  into  their  component  processes  are  the  first  evi- 
dences of  a  transition  to  a  new  system  of  organization  in  which 
the  workmen  were  to  be  more  than  mere  aggregations  of  units. 
The  increased  subdivision  of  processes  of  production  made  it 
more  necessary  than  hi  the  past  to  work  out  carefully  the 
correlation  between  the  various  groups  of  workmen.  More 
supervision  became  necessary  because  the  workman  was  not 
always  a  master  of  his  craft.  The  employer  thus  became 
by  force  of  circumstance  a  disciplinarian,  interested  in  every 


16  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

detail  of  the  process  of  production.  The  advantages  to  be 
Rise  of  the  secured  through  the  organization  of  team-play 
factory  among  the  workmen  and  through  more  careful 

study  of  the  pace  of  the  entire  productive  process  could  be- 
come really  significant  only  through  an  increase  of  discipline 
and  drilling  that  would  be  impossible  as  long  as  the  workers 
remained  in  their  homes.  The  concentration  of  the  whole 
body  of  employees  was  indispensable:  properly  speaking  it 
was  not  an  end  in  itself,  but  merely  a  means  to  an  end.  It  is 
the  most  notable  visible  difference  between  the  establish- 
ment organized  under  the  putting-out  system  and  the  factory, 
but  it  is  not  in  fact  the  essential  feature  of  the  factory  system. 
The  gathering  together  of  operatives  in  one  place  would  not 
properly  make  a  factory  any  more  than  the  collection  of  a 
large  body  of  men  makes  an  army.  Until  there  is  some  plan 
for  the  increased  coordination  of  the  workmen,  some  increase 
in  the  division  of  labor,  and  new  disciplinary  measures  to  give 
effect  to  the  closer  ordering  of  the  productive  process,  there 
is  no  real  advantage  is  collecting  the  operatives  into  a  single 
workshop. 

There  were  advantages  in  this  new  organization  that  were 
sufficiently  great  to  induce  the  proprietor  of  the  establish- 
ment to  adopt  the  new  system,  without  assuming  any  change 
hi  the  technical  equipment  of  industry.  The  change  to  the 
factory  system  could  take  place  before  the  introduction  of 
machinery,  as  far  as  the  employer  was  concerned.  This 
industrial  transformation,  however,  is  distinct  from  all  the 
The  hostility  of  phases  of  development  that  precede  it  in  being 
the  workmen  bitterly  opposed  by  the  workmen.  They  did  not 
like  the  rigid  discipline  of  the  new  regime;  the  liberty  of  the 
craft-work  in  their  homes  was  not  significantly  qualified  by 
the  supervision  exercised  by  the  capitalist  employer,  and 
they  were  loath  to  give  up  their  personal  liberty.  The  estab- 
lishment of  the  factory  system  was  undoubtedly  delayed  by 
the  unwillingness  of  the  workmen  to  accept  the  conditions 
of  employment  that  it  imposed,  and  the  introduction  of  the 
new  system  thus  turned  upon  the  pressure  of  competition 
between  the  old  equipment  and  the  power  machinery  that 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         17 

began  to  affect  industry  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury. The  factory  that  came  into  being  in  the  early  nine- 
teenth century  thus  differed  from  the  putting-out  system  in 
three  respects:  the  greater  measure  of  coordination  hi  the 
process  of  production;  the  massing  of  the  operatives  in  one 
establishment;  the  introduction  of  machinery. 

Strict  classification  of  industrial  forms  thus  leads  to  a 
number  of  divergences  from  popular  and  legal  usage.  The 
"workshops"  of  English  statutes  and  the  Theiegaide-  , 
"sweat-shops"  that  are  currently  distinguished  f^^^9 
from  "factories"  would  probably  fall  within  adequate 
the  meaning  of  the  term  "factory,"  as  defined  above.  It 
is  commonly  recognized  that  the  distinction  between  "fac- 
tories" and  "workshops"  is  wholly  arbitrary  and  unfortu- 
nate. An  industrial  establishment  does  not  change  its  char- 
acter significantly  by  reason  of  employing  a  fiftieth  hand; 
if  numbers  can  possess  any  importance  from  the  standpoint 
of  classification  they  are  most  likely  to  mean  something  when 
the  establishments  are  small.  The  numbers  five  and  six  used 
in  German  and  French  industrial  statistics  are  probably  con- 
nected with  real  differences  hi  the  character  of  the  establish- 
ment, but  once  the  size  of  the  establishment  has  grown  be- 
yond such  narrow  limits  further  classification  by  numbers 
can  have  no  functional  significance.  The  attempt  to  distin- 
guish workshops  as  places  in  which  no  power  machinery  was 
used  was  perhaps  more  significant,  but  no  more  justifiable 
on  scientific  grounds.  These  distinctions  have  proved  to 
have  been  unwise  from  the  administrative  point  of  view. 
There  were  no  sufficient  grounds  for  subjecting  such  estab- 
lishments to  different  restrictions. 

The  sweat-shop  presents  a  more  difficult  problem  of  classi- 
fication, and  it  may  seem  extravagant  to  propose  to  classify 
the  majority  of  sweat-shops  as  factories;  the 
conclusion  is,  however,  irresistible.    The  sweat- 
shop is  the  abode  of  the  proprietor  in  most  cases,  but  many  of 
the  employees  live  elsewhere.    Furthermore,  the  work  is  done 
under  supervision  of  a  taskmaster;  the  employees  constitute 
a  team  of  workers  of  various  degrees  of  skill  engaged  in  the 


18  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

series  of  tasks  necessary  to  complete  some  industrial  opera- 
tion; there  is  an  elaborate  division  of  labor  and  definite  pace 
for  the  work.  The  establishment  represents  a  type  of  factory 
in  which  the  economic  advantages  are  derived  from  this  severe 
driving  of  the  laborers  as  a  team.  The  fact  that  the  proprietor 
of  the  sweat-shop  contracts  to  do  certain  work  for  another 
business  man  is  of  indifference  in  classifying  the  establish- 
ment. The  work  of  that  business  man  is  " put-out"  in  a 
sense,  but  the  manner  of  the  putting-out  is  entirely  different 
arenotsur-  from  the  delegation  of  work  in  the  putting- 
putSg°-oSe  out  system.  When  the  capitalist  employer  of 
system  the  early  days  gave  out  work  he  was  dealing 

with  people  who  were  to  perform  the  work  in  their  homes  at 
their  own  convenience;  the  fact  that  they  did  the  work  most 
literally  at  their  convenience  was  one  of  the  most  serious 
difficulties  the  employer  had  to  contend  with.  He  could 
never  be  sure  of  getting  work  out  on  time.  The  essential 
feature  of  the  putting-out  system  is  this  absence  of  any  dis- 
ciplinary power;  the  capitalist  was  an  employer  of  labor,  but 
he  was  not  a  boss. 

The  position  of  the  sweat-shop  is  not  happily  defined  in 
terms  of  the  putting-out  of  work :  the  work  that  is  given  out 
is  comparable  to  work  let  out  by  firms  that  do  not  care  to 
make  all  their  accessories;  it  represents  a  contract  between 
establishments  rather  than  a  contract  between  a  capitalist 
employer  and  a  craftsman  living  in  his  own  home.  The 
sweat-shop  can  thus  be  compared  to  the  manufacturing  firm 
that  makes  some  small  specialty,  not  itself  of  use  to  consumers 
but  fundamental  to  many  manufacturers.  It  is  a  small  fac- 
tory, representing  the  system  at  its  worst.  It  is  a  "morbid 
survival,"  to  use  Hobson's  phrase;  but  it  is  not  a  survival 
from  any  remote  past.  We  see  in  this  form  the  early  type  of 
the  factory  without  machinery,  exempt  from  all  regulation. 

III.  COMMERCE  AND  INDUSTRY 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  development  of  the  various 
industrial  forms  is  merely  an  outcome  of  the  progressive 
division  of  labor.  Each  form  is  related  to  particular  degrees 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         19 

of  industrial  specialization.  The  forms  are  not  in  themselves 
good  or  bad;  they  are  adaptations  to  the  cir-  industrial 
cumstances  created  by  the  gradual  specializa-  sPecialization 
tion  of  work.  The  central  fact  is  not  the  series  of  successive 
industrial  forms,  but  the  division  of  labor,  ever  more  and  more 
elaborately  articulated.  The  seeming  continuity  of  indus- 
trial development  is  wholly  due  to  this  dominant  fact.  The 
complexities  of  the  actual  chronology  of  industrial  history 
are  all  lost  to  view  because  of  the  compelling  logical  move- 
ment of  this  progressive  division  of  labor  with  its  related 
industrial  forms.  It  is  desirable,  however,  to  keep  these 
complexities  of  actual  chronology  clearly  in  mind,  for  they 
constitute  the  main  problem  of  industrial  history. 

The  advantages  of  the  division  of  labor  are  so  widely  real- 
ized that  it  is  not  necessary  to  comment  on  the  cause  or  the 
variety  of  forms  hi  which  they  appear.  But  it  would  seem 
that  men  were  slow  to  appreciate  the  economic  advantages 
of  this  specialization  of  effort.  [  Why  has  the  development  of 
industrial  forms  been  so  slow?  s\Vhy  do  the  highly  specialized 
types  of  industrial  society  emerge  so  late?  The  general 
answer  to  these  fundamental  questions  is  furnished  by  the 
axiom  of  Adam  Smith:  the  extent  nf  the 


profitable  limits  of  the  division  nf  labor.     The  limited  by 
village  blacksmith  must  needs  be  somewhat  of  the  market 
a  Jack-of-all-Trades  because  no  one  of  his  activities  would, 
in  that  village,  afford  him  a  livelihood.     He  must  needs  be 
a  worker  in  iron,  a  wagon-maker,  a  joiner,  and  not  infre- 
quently he  used  to  be  called  upon  as  a  dentist.    The  hand- 
loom  weaver  was  also  a  gardener,  and  at  harvest  tune  he 
might  hire  out  as  a  general  farm  laborer. 

The  principle  of  Adam  Smith  is  well  known,  but  there  is 
frequent  tendency  to  forget  that  the  market  for  industrial 
products   is  no   simple  matter.     The  market  Territorial  ^^ 
is  subject  to  social  and  territorial  limitations,  social  umita- 
It  may  consist  of  a  clientele  spread  through  a 
wide  area,  but  confined  to  a  single  class,  or  again  it  may  con- 
sist of  all  classes  of  persons  living  within  a  relatively  circum- 
scribed area.    The  limitations  of  the  market  from  the  terri- 


20  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

torial  point  of  view  have  always  been  keenly  felt,  the  social 
limitations  of  the  market  have  not  been  as  generally  per- 
ceived, though  they  are  of  special  importance  in  connection 
with  industrial  history.  In  the  middle  ages,  markets  for 
industrial  products  were  small  by  reason  of  social  rather 
than  territorial  limitations.  It  was  easier  to  sell  the  high- 
grade  broadcloth  of  England  in  the  Near  East  or  in  the  East 
Indies  than  to  sell  such  goods  to  the  peasants  or  shopkeepers 
of  the  county.  Until  the  Industrial  Revolution  it  was  easier 
to  extend  the  market  for  manufactures  by  selling  through  a 
wider  area  than  to  increase  the  market  by  offering  the  goods 
to  the  poorer  classes  of  the  community. 

The  foreign  or  distant  market  has  thus  played  a  more 
prominent  part  in  industrial  history  than  the  domestic 
importance  of  market.  Some  have  been  disposed  to  believe 
foreign  trade  ^hat  difficulties  of  transportation  prevented  the 
sale  of  goods  over  large  areas  until  a  fairly  recent  period,  but 
this  is  a  serious  error.  Transportation  was  slow,  and  the 
volume  of  goods  handled  was  small  in  comparison  with  mod- 
ern traffic;  but  such  comparisons  are  misleading.  Manu- 
factured commodities  were  sent  great  distances  both  in  clas- 
sical and  medieval  days,  and,  when  water  transport  was 
available,  bulky  commodities  like  grain  and  oil  could  pro- 
fitably be  shipped.  The  limitations  of  the  market  were  an 
outcome  of  the  inequalities  of  the  distribution  of  wealth  which 
placed  the  purchasing  power  of  the  community  primarily  in 
the  hands  of  the  landed  aristocracy,  so  that  the  market  for 
many  industrial  products  was  the  luxurious  demand  of  the 
wealthy.  Much  industry  was  therefore  concerned  with  a 
class  that  was  concentrated  in  the  larger  towns  during  the 
Grseco-Roman  period,  though  the  towns  were  themselves 
scattered  throughout  the  Mediterranean  world.  In  the 
middle  ages  the  aristocracy  was  even  more  widely  diffused 
through  an  area  that  had  been  enlarged  by  the  development 
of  northern  Europe. 

The  commodities  used  by  the  common  people  were  not 
all  produced  in  the  home  either  in  classical  or  in  medieval 
tunes;  nevertheless,  these  needs  were  not  sufficiently  consid- 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         21 

erable  to  afford  a  basis  for  the  development  of  highly  spe- 
cialized industry.  Such  wants  could  be  gratified 
by  a  few  local  craftsmen.  There  was  a  nota- 
ble interchange  of  products  between  artisans  and  small  far- 
mers. The  urban  craftsman  became  dependent  upon  the 
foodstuffs  produced  by  the  small  farmers  and  among  these 
lower  classes  a  genuine  money  economy  sprang  up  at  a  rela- 
tively early  date.  The  artisans  sold  their  goods  or  services 
for  money  to  the  aristocrats  or  to  the  farmers  of  the  neigh- 
borhood; with  money  they  purchased  their  supplies  in  the 
market.  It  is  the  life  of  these  humbler  classes  in  society 
that  creates  the  appearance  of  intense  local  self-sufficiency 
which  many  writers  declare  to  be  characteristic  of  the  eco- 
nomic life  of  these  early  periods.  The  cosmopolitanism  in 
the  life  of  the  upper  classes  is  quite  as  characteristic,  however, 
and  the  difference  between  modern  life  and  the  life  of  these 
remote  periods  really  lies  in  the  strange  dualism  of  social 
organization  in  ancient  and  medieval  tunes;  certain  aspects 
of  society  being  dominated  by  the  narrowest  local  influences, 
other  aspects  less  definitely  centralized  than  at  the  present 
tune. 

The  insistence  upon  local  self-sufficiency  is  thus  justifiable 
in  a  measure,  but  it  must  not  be  presented  as  the  whole  truth 
of  the  matter,  and  with  reference  to  industrial  history  it  is 
peculiarly  disastrous  to  neglect  the  cosmopolitan  life  of  the 
upper  classes,  for  such  influences  were  all-important  in  de- 
termining the  more  highly  specialized  industrial  develop- 
ments. 

Not  until  the  Industrial  Revolution  does  the  intensive  ex- 
ploitation of  the  needs  of  all  classes  in  the  community  be- 
come the  dominant  fact  in  industrial  specializa-  Late  deveiop- 
tion.    When  methods  of  production  were  pri-  ™^zed  s 
marily  dependent  upon  hand  work,  the  high  costs  consumption 
and  tendency  to  emphasize  distinctiveness  of  product  inevi- 
tably restricted  the  sale  to  the  wealthy.    Large-scale  produc- 
tion with  a  mechanical  technique  made  it  possible  to  offer 
to  all  wares  that  had  formerly  been  the  prerogative  of 
the  wealthy.    Consumption  became  more  standardized;  the 


22  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

manufacturer  realized  that  it  was  more  profitable  to  sell  rel- 
atively cheap  wares  to  the  entire  community  than  to  sell 
distinctive  products  to  persons  of  great  wealth. 

The  expansion  of  the  market  for  industrial  products  has 
thus  been  a  highly  complex  development;  sometimes  social, 
The  "world  sometimes  territorial.  German  writers  have 
market"  made  much  use  of  the  phrase  " world  market" 

in  writing  of  recent  developments,  implying  and  frequently 
declaring  that  the  "market"  was  less  broad  in  the  earlier 
periods.  All  highly  developed  industrial  districts  have  been 
dependent  upon  a  world  market,  in  the  territorial  sense  of 
the  word.  There  has  always  been  a  world  market,  and  at 
the  same  time  the  territorial  extent  of  the  market  has  been 
periodically  enlarged  —  the  world  has  grown  larger.  There 
is  a  tendency  to  forget  the  significance  of  the  terminology 
established  in  geography.  We  are  all  familiar  with  phrases 
like  "the  Homeric  World,"  "the  World  of  Herodotus,"  "the 
Ptolemaic  World,"  and  yet  we  forget  that  the  growth  of 
geographical  knowledge  is  closely  related  to  the  expansion  of 
commerce.  In  the  study  of  industrial  history  these  various 
phases  in  the  territorial  expansion  of  the  Western  world  are 
absolutely  vital. 

The  slow  growth  of  industry  prior  to  the  ninth  century  B.C. 
was  largely  conditioned  by  the  narrow  limitations  of  the  area 
Commerce  of  significant  social  contacts.  The  rise  of  the 
industrial8  maritime  development  of  the  Phoenician  and 
growth  Greek  cities  resulted  hi  a  great  extension  of  the 

civilized  world.  The  entire  eastern  end  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean began  to  show  evidence  of  a  systematic  geographical  di- 
vision of  labor.  The  production  of  grain,  oil,  and  metals  was 
somewhat  specialized  as  well  as  the  production  of  industrial 
products.  The  multiplication  of  the  crafts  in  the  Greek 
cities  and  colonies  was  a  reflection  of  this  extension  of  Mediter- 
ranean commerce.  Medieval  industry  developed  under  the 
influence  of  a  somewhat  different  complex  of  commercial  fac- 
tors. The  newly  acquired  importance  of  northern  Europe 
gave  added  emphasis  to  the  geographical  division  of  labor: 
there  were  climatic  differences  between  the  Near  East  and 


FORMS  OF  INDUSTRIAL  ORGANIZATION         23 

northern  Europe  that  did  not  exist  between  the  countries  of 
the  Mediterranean.  Export  industries  became  Expansion  in 
increasingly  important  in  the  middle  ages  be-  the  middle  a«es 
cause  they  were  essential  to  the  trade  between  northern 
Europe  and  the  Near  East,  or  Levant.  There  was  an  increase 
in  the  dependence  upon  export  trade  as  well  as  an  increase 
in  the  area  within  the  scope  of  the  general  commercial  system. 
These  conditions  afforded  medieval  industry  a  broader  com- 
mercial background,  and,  although  the  forms  of  craft-indus- 
try predominated  as  during  the  major  portion  of  the  classical 
period,  there  were  significant  differences  in  the  number  of 
crafts  and  in  the  degree  of  industrial  specialization. 

The  Industrial  Revolution  was  in  part  an  outcome  of  the 
commercial  expansion  to  India  and  the  Spice  Islands.  New 
markets  were  opened  up  and  new  wares  were  introduced 
into  Europe.  The  inventions  were  in  many  Expansion  prior 
cases  a  deliberate  attempt  to  take  advantage  totheindus- 
of  the  industrial  opportunities  created  by  this 
commercial  growth,  although  the  changes  in  the  metal  trades 
cannot  be  directly  associated  with  the  growth  of  commerce. 
With  this  single  exception  each  great  period  of  industrial 
change  has  been  closely  related  to  periods  of  commercial  ex- 
pansion. Industry  has  developed,  therefore,  as  a  result  of 
circumstances  affecting  the  life  of  the  community  as  a  whole 
and  not  primarily  by  reason  of  any  spontaneous  tendency 
confined  to  the  industrial  field.  The  factors  that  have  domi- 
nated industrial  growth  are  economic  rather  than  technologi- 
cal. Industry  reacts  to  general  social  changes,  and  is  seldom 
an  initial  cause  of  change. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY 


THE  beginnings  of  the  records  of  Western  civilization  are 
closely  associated  with  the  beginnings  of  urban  life.  The 
rapid  growth  of  our  knowledge  of  the  life  of  prehistoric  men 
Recorded  his-  should  save  us  from  the  error  of  identifying 
begtafrlfof  tne  dawn  of  history  with  the  beginnings  of  or- 
sociai  life  ganized  social  life,  and  for  that  reason  we  should 
not  be  unduly  surprised  to  find  revealed,  both  in  Egypt  and 
Mesopotamia,  a  social  structure  already  far  removed  from  the 
primitive  conditions  that  can  still  be  studied  among  the  back- 
ward races  of  Australasia  and  the  equatorial  forests  of  Africa. 
Between  these  primitive  conditions  revealed  by  anthropolog- 
ical research  and  the  social  life  of  the  early  Egyptians  and 
Sumerians  there  is  a  gap  which  cannot  be  bridged.  Social 
history  does  not  begin  at  the  beginning  of  social  life,  and 
there  is  great  danger  that  the  institutions  of  these  early  socie- 
ties be  misinterpreted  because  of  an  unwarranted  assump- 
tion that  they  must  needs  represent  in  actual  forms  the  con- 
ditions that  should  logically  be  found  at  the  beginnings  of 
social  life.  Despite  the  brilliance  of  Biicher's  work  and  the 
keenness  of  his  sense  of  historical  development,  evidence  is 
constantly  forced  upon  our  attention  that  he  could  not  free 
himself  from  the  disposition  to  describe  the  dawn  of  history 
as  if  it  were  the  origin  of  organized  social  life. 

The  political  arrangements  and  religious  beliefs  are  so  dif- 
ferent from  our  own  that  the  changes  seem  immeasurably 
great,  —  so  great  that  we  readily  think  of  the  Egyptians  and 
Sumerians  as  primitive  peoples,  scarcely  civilized.  So  com- 
mon was  this  view  a  generation  ago  that  the  archeological 
discoveries  of  recent  years  have  been  a  real  shock  to  our  his- 
torical consciousness.  The  discovery  of  the  Code  of  Ham- 
murabi, dating  from  about  two  thousand  years  before  Christ, 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       25 

has  been  the  most  notable  single  revelation  of  this  hitherto 
unknown  world,  but  this  is  only  one  of  many  discoveries,  and, 
although  the  mass  of  our  knowledge  is  still  small,  we  can 
form  tentative  opinions  about  the  social  life  of  these  peoples 
of  the  Near  East. 

The  most  noteworthy  feature  of  these  early  records  is  the 
unmistakable  evidence  of  developed  urban  life.  The  tiny 
villages  of  primitive  society  had  long  been  out-  Records  and 
grown,  and  some  significant  concentration  of  **&&* 
population  had  taken  place.  Among  the  Greeks,  this  tran- 
sition to  urban  life  took  place  within  a  period  which  was 
within  the  historical  era,  and  the  literature  and  legends  of 
the  race  constitute  a  fragmentary  and  uncertain  record  which 
has  historical  value,  though  it  can  hardly  be  called  a  histori- 
cal record.  Even  among  the  Greeks  we  have  scarce  any- 
thing in  the  nature  of  a  formal  record  until  urban  life  had 
become  an  established  feature  of  their  society.  When  a 
people  has  not  advanced  beyond  primitive  village  life  there 
is  little  likelihood  that  it  will  leave  any  records.  Even  in  the 
period  following  the  fall  of  Rome,  when  social  life  was  by  no 
means  primitive,  the  decadence  of  urban  life  and  the  pre- 
dominantly rural  character  of  the  settlements  of  the  Teu- 
tonic invaders  created  conditions  so  unfavorable  to  the  mak- 
ing of  records  that  the  term  "dark  ages"  is  fairly  descriptive. 
The  study  of  the  beginnings  of  industrial  organization  is  thus 
profoundly  affected  by  the  defects  of  historical  records.  When 
some  conscious  record  is  made,  the  details  of  daily  life  appear 
only  by  chance,  in  references  that  were  not  designed  to 
describe  industrial  conditions  systematically,  so  that  our 
knowledge  is  at  best  incomplete.  According  to  the  caprice 
of  record-making,  we  begin  to  learn  something  of  industry  in 
the  Western  world  at  a  stage  that  is  already  far  advanced. 

The  most  difficult  problems  in  the  early  history  of  indus- 
try center  around  the  period  of  decadence  in  urban  life. 
There  is  an  interval  between  the  decline  of  the  The 
towns  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  the  rise  of  the  "  dark  ages " 
medieval  towns  which  seems  to  be  a  real  break  in  the  con- 
tinuity of  industrial  history.     For  several  centuries  there 


26  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

seems  to  be  a  positive  regression,  and  the  rise  of  the  towns  in 
the  middle  ages  seems  to  be  without  substantial  connection 
with  the  urban  life  of  the  ancient  world.  The  "dark  ages," 
however,  were  not  as  complete  a  break  with  the  past  as  is 
frequently  assumed.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  an  error  to 
presume  that  the  towns  of  the  middle  ages  are  a  mere  re- 
vival of  the  older  urban  forms.  There  were  profound  dif- 
ferences both  in  social  and  in  political  organization,  and 
these  divergences  were  of  great  moment  with  reference  to  the 
development  of  industry  and  commerce. 

The  cities  of  the  classical  world  were,  in  the  main,  aristo- 
cratic residence  cities;  there  were  tradesmen  and  artisans, 
The  but  they  constituted  an  inferior  class,  usually 

ancient  city  deprived  of  any  political  rights.  Trade  was  tol- 
erated, its  advantages  surreptitiously  enjoyed,  but  never  rec- 
ognized as  a  worthy  pursuit  for  persons  of  birth.  The  medie- 
val towns  were  primarily  industrial  and  commercial.  The 
aristocracy,  lay  and  ecclesiastical,  became  definitely  identi- 
fied with  the  land,  and,  except  for  casual  visits,  ceased  to  re- 
side in  the  towns.  The  townsmen  constituted  a  distinct  class, 
possessing  privileges  of  real  significance  in  all  the  medieval 
kingdoms.  In  many  instances  they  achieved  substantial 
independence.  These  political  differences  reflect  different 
relations  to  the  land  that  are  of  great  economic  importance. 
In  the  classical  world  there  were  agrarian  problems,  but 
there  was  no  opposition  between  urban  and  rural  interests. 
The  class  endowed  with  significant  rights  was  so  completely 
identified  with  both  town  and  country  that  no  fundamental 
opposition  of  interest  was  conceivable.  The  aristocrats  of 
the  ancient  world  lived  primarily  in  the  city,  but  drew  their 
revenues  from  agriculture  or  mining.  Their  household  con- 
sisted of  a  mass  of  blood  relatives,  slaves,  and  dependents, 
who  divided  their  time  between  the  town  house  and  the  coun- 
try house.  Urban  concentration  was  thus  determined  more 
largely  by  social  and  political  purposes  than  by  economic 
factors. 

The  growth  of  cities  in  the  ancient  world  was  thus  some- 
what capricious,  dependent  upon  military  power  quite  as 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY      27 

much  as  upon  commercial  advantage.  At  times  trade  degen- 
erated into  an  organized  system  of  collecting  Th9amu^ 
tribute,  ceasing  to  be  in  any  sense  a  matter  of  basis  of  the 
reciprocal  advantage.  These  military  and  politi-  anaent  world 
cal  aspects  of  classical  civilization  appear  most  clearly  in 
the  later  history  of  Rome,  notably  hi  the  last  century  of 
the  Republic  and  under  the  Empire.  Toward  the  close, 
the  predatory  motives  underlying  this  civilization  were 
unblushingly  revealed.  Rome  became  a  great  commercial 
center,  but  the  movement  was  almost  entirely  inward. 
The  flow  of  goods  toward  Rome  was  balanced  by  the  flow 
of  legionaries  to  the  provinces.  In  all  this  system  of  ex- 
ploitation, Rome  was  inventing  nothing:  merely  practicing 
with  full  knowledge  the  lessons  learned  from  the  other  great 
peoples  of  the  Mediterranean  world,  Carthaginians,  Greeks, 
and  Egyptians.  All  had  contributed  something  toward  the 
upbuilding  of  the  Empire  that  revealed  the  best  and  the  worst 
that  antiquity  could  produce. 

Antiquity  produced  brilliant  cities  and  notable  civiliza- 
tions; but  they  lacked  foundation.  Industrial  development 
was  inevitably  a  part  of  the  premature  brilliance  of  these 
luxury-loving  cultures.  The  rapid  growth  of  urban  centers 
under  the  stimulus  of  social  and  political  factors  fostered  in- 
dustry. It  is  therefore  peculiarly  unfortunate  that  Bucher 
and  earlier  writers  should  have  attempted  to  classify  the  in- 
dustries of  classical  antiquity  as  primitive  types,  definitely 
inferior  to  the  medieval  types.  The  peculiar  characteristics 
of  classical  culture  are  most  clearly  revealed  hi  the  relation 
of  industry  to  agriculture  and  in  the  predacious  exploitation 
of  distant  provinces  for  the  benefit  of  military  aristocracies. 
The  great  market  for  industrial  products  was  furnished  by 
the  wealthy  aristocrats,  so  that  industry  was  primarily  con- 
cerned with  catering  to  then*  wants. 

»  The  simplest  measure  of  the  intensity  of  these  political 
forces  is  afforded  by  the  meager  statistics  of  pop-  Extent  o{ 
ulation.    The  studies  of  Beloch  give  the  follow-  the  urban 
ing  results  for  the  fifth  century  B.C.:  Athens, 
including  the  Piraeus,  a  total  population  of  about  120,000; 


28  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Syracuse,  115,000;  Corinth,  90,000;  Sparta,  Argos,  Megalo- 
polis, Akragas,  Taras,  Thebes,  Sidon,  and  Tyre,  40,000  to 
50,000  each.  The  number  of  slaves  is  largely  a  matter  of 
conjecture,  but  occasional  references  form  the  basis  of  the 
conventional  estimate  of  one  third  of  the  total  population, 
slightly  more  perhaps  in  some  of  the  notable  industrial  cities, 
slightly  less  in  other  cities.  These  figures  represent  approxi- 
mately the  position  of  the  Greek  cities  during  the  period  of 
their  greatest  prosperity,  and  the  figures  are  particularly 
noteworthy  hi  comparison  with  Rome,  as  the  purely  military 
elements  were  less  obtrusive  in  Greece  than  in  other  portions 
of  the  ancient  world.  Commercial  conditions  were  more 
important  and  in  some  cases  predominant.  The  importation 
of  food  products,  which  was  essential  to  all  the  larger  cities, 
was  balanced  by  an  industrial  export,  so  that  Greek  com- 
merce was  a  pretty  genuine  exchange  of  commodities. 

Beloch  estimates  the  total  population  of  Rome,  for  the 
year  5  B.C.,  at  850,000  or  875,000.  Estimates  for  the  early 
Rome  at  the  Empire  place  the  population  at  about  1,000,000. 
height  of  her  This  concentration  was  certainly  not  a  result 
of  purely  economic  forces,  and  the  measures 
necessary  to  assure  an  adequate  supply  of  food  speak  elo- 
quently of  the  significance  of  political  factors.  Under  the 
early  Empire  Rome  imported  between  6,000,000  and  7,500,- 
000  bushels  of  grain  annually,  from  Egypt,  the  Crimea, 
Sicily,  Sardinia,  and  Africa.  Much  of  this  importation  was 
definitely  a  tribute  to  Rome's  military  supremacy. 

The  rise  of  the  medieval  towns  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
great  change  in  the  relative  importance  of  political  and  eco- 
Trade  and  the  nomic  forces  in  social  life.  Despite  all  the  bar- 
medieval  towns  rjers  t0  intercourse  there  was  a  great  increase  in 
the  degree  of  economic  freedom.  Industry  was  free  to  the 
extent  of  being  conducted  almost  exclusively  by  free  arti- 
sans, and  commerce  was  free  in  the  sense  of  being  a  genuine 
exchange  of  goods.  The  rise  of  the  towns  in  the  middle  ages 
is  thus  not  merely  an  important  episode  in  the  history  of 
political  freedom,  but  also  an  important  chapter  in  the  his- 
tory of  economic  freedom.  The  achievement  of  political  in- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       29 

dependence  was  made  possible  by  the  close  identification  of 
the  feudal  aristocracy  with  the  land.  Feudal  society  thus 
tended  to  become  divided  between  the  rural  interests  of  the 
nobility  and  the  urban  interests  of  the  Third  Estate.  Town 
and  country  were  opposed  to  each  other  politically,  and 
were  held  together  by  the  most  casual  economic  relations. 

The  modern  period  is  characterized  by  the  development 
of  a  close  integration  between  rural  and  urban  life.  The 
city  becomes  a  focal  point  of  all  economic  forces;  Function  of  the 
a  distributing  point  for  industrial  products  go-  modem  ci*y 
ing  to  the  rural  districts  and  a  concentration  point  for  ag- 
ricultural products  and  minerals  coming  from  the  country. 
The  function  of  the  city  becomes  purely  economic,  and  its 
growth  correspondingly  dependent  upon  its  convenience  for 
commercial  and  industrial  purposes.  The  modern  city  serves 
a  large  region  instead  of  a  mere  rural  suburb;  it  possesses  a 
" hinterland"  that  comprises  an  organized  complex  of  rural 
and  industrial  centers. 

There  is  thus  some  measure  of  continuity  in  the  growth  of 
relations  between  town  and  country  throughout  the  history 
of  the  Western  world.  In  the  ancient  world  the  rural  districts 
had  no  independent  organization;  they  were  merely  tribu- 
tary to  the  towns.  In  the  medieval  period  town  and  coun- 
try were  substantially  independent;  each  had  its  definite  place 
in  the  feudal  order,  and,  though  some  contact  was  maintained, 
each  remained  in  its  own  sphere.  In  the  modern  period,  town 
and  country  have  become  an  organic  whole  with  reciprocal 
functions  and  interests.  The  continuity  of  growth  is  not 
at  all  times  clearly  apparent,  and  it  is  most  obscure  in  the 
field  of  industrial  history. 

No  striking  differences  in  industrial  forms  distinguish  class- 
ical and  medieval  industry.    The  number  of  crafts  varies  at 
different  times,  and  in  different  places;  great  Ancient  and 
changes  take  place  in  the  relative  importance  of  SSenswew1" 
the  various  crafts.     There  are  changes  in  the  comparable 
scale  of  industrial  enterprise;  growth  also  hi  the  markets, 
from  small  local  and  foreign  markets  which  constitute  the 
reliance  of  a  few  craftsmen  to  large  foreign  markets  which 


30  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

become  the  basis  of  great  export  industries.  There  is  like- 
wise an  increase  hi  the  number  of  towns  possessing  note- 
worthy industries.  Much  development  during  antiquity  and 
the  middle  ages  is  concerned  with  the  diffusion  of  industries 
and  types  of  organization  which  emerge  at  a  very  early  date. 
The  legal  status  of  the  artisan  and  the  general  social  and 
political  position  of  the  class  as  a  whole  undergo  many 
changes.  In  short,  the  aspect  of  industrial  life  that  is  least 
influenced  by  historical  changes  is  the  form  of  organization. 
There  are  many  variations,  but  the  predominant  types,  dur- 
ing antiquity  and  the  middle  ages,  are  wage-work  and  craft- 
work. 

II.  EGYPT 

The  interpretation  of  Egyptian  records  presents  many  dif- 
ficulties. The  pictorial  representations  on  the  monuments  ex- 
hibit considerable  numbers  of  craft  operations,  even  in  the 
early  period  of  the  Old  Empire,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  deter- 
mine the  status  of  these  artisans  or  their  relation  to  possible 
employers  or  customers.  Much  work  was  done  in  the  estab- 
lishments of  the  royal  household,  the  great  landowners,  and 
the  temples.  It  is  essential  to  know  whether  the  workmen 
employed  were  substantially  slaves  permanently  attached  to 
the  household,  or  whether  they  enjoyed  some  measure  of  in- 
dependence, working  in  part  for  casual  consumers.  Our 
knowledge  of  the  details  of  craft  processes  is  more  accurate 
than  our  knowledge  of  the  forms  of  industrial  organization. 
We  must  needs  depend  upon  inferences  for  most  of  our 
opinions  about  the  civil  status  of  artisans  and  the  manner 
of  the  remuneration. 

The  most  important  single  source  of  information  is  a 
description  of  the  disadvantages  of  all  forms  of  manual  labor, 
written  by  a  scribe  of  the  Twelfth  Dynasty  (2000-1788  B.C.) 
in  order  to  encourage  young  men  to  undergo  the  arduous 
preparation  required  by  the  profession.1  There  is  thus  an 

1  The  document  is  translated  entire  by  G.  Maspero  in  his  work  Du  Genre 
Epistolaire  chez  les  Egyptians  de  I'Epoque  Pharonique  (Paris,  1872),  48-73. 
Considerable  portions  are  translated  into  English  in  his  Dawn  of  Civilization 
(New  York,  1894),  i,  311-14.  The  texts  are  slightly  different.  The  transla- 
tion given  here  is  in  part  original. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       31 

evident  implication  that  a  young  man  of  the  middle  class 
might  at  his  own  pleasure  adopt  any  one  of  these  various 
modes  of  gaining  a  livelihood.  Not  all  the  crafts  of  which 
pictorial  representation  exists  are  mentioned  in  the  scribe's 
enumeration,  so  that  it  may  be  a  presentation  of  the  careers 
open  to  a  young  man  of  the  middle  class: 

I  have  seen  violence  .  .  .  therefore  apply  your  heart  to  letters  .  .  . 
I  have  beheld  those  who  are  engaged  in  manual  work  .  .  .  and,  in 
truth,  there  is  no  occupation  above  that  of  letters  .  .  .  The  crafts  in 
it  is  the  most  important  of  all  the  crafts.     It  is  not  a  early  Eey^ 
vain  thing  ...  he  who  applies  himself  to  this  profession  from  his 
youth  up,  gains  honor.  .  .  .  He  is  sent  on  missions.     He  who  does 
not  take  up  this  profession  will  be  clad  in  sackcloth. 

I  have  never  seen  a  blacksmith  on  an  embassy,  nor  a  smelter  sent 
on  a  mission,  but  I  have  seen  the  smith  at  his  work  —  at  the  mouth 
of  the  furnace  of  his  forge  —  his  fingers  as  rugged  as  the  hide  of  a 
crocodile,  and  stinking  more  than  fish  spawn. 

Has  the  worker  with  metals  more  leisure  than  the  man  with  the 
hoe?  .  .  .  His  field  is  the  block  of  wood  under  his  hand,  his  tools  are 
of  metal.  ...  At  night  the  laborer  is  free,  the  artisan's  hands  are  still 
busy  —  for  at  night  he  works  with  his  torch. 

The  stone-cutter  who  seeks  his  living  by  working  in  all  kinds  of 
durable  stones  .  .  .  when  at  last  he  has  earned  something  and  his 
two  arms  are  worn  out,  he  stops.  But  if  at  sunrise  he  remains  sit- 
ting, his  legs  are  tied  to  his  back. l 

The  barber  who  shaves  until  the  evening  .  .  .  only  when  he  is 
eating  can  he  lower  his  arm.  .  .  .  He  runs  from  house  to  house  seek- 
ing custom;  He  wears  out  his  arms  to  fill  his  belly,  for  like  the  bee  he 
eats  in  proportion  to  his  toil. 

I  will  tell  you  of  the  mason.  Sickness  threatens  him  continually 
for  he  is  exposed  to  all  the  winds  —  while  the  bunch  of  lotus  flowers 
(which  is  fixed)  on  the  (completed)  houses  is  still  far  out  of  his  reach. 
I  direct  his  arms  in  the  work.  His  clothes  are  in  disorder.  .  .  .  (He 
consumes  himself,  for  he  has  no  other  bread  than  his  fingers.)  (sic  /) 
He  washes  only  once  a  day.  He  must  humble  himself  in  order  to 
please. 

The  weaver  within  doors  is  worse  off  there  than  a  woman;  squat- 
ting, his  knees  against  his  chest,  he  gets  no  breath  of  fresh  air.  If 
he  slackens  work  for  as  much  as  a  day  he  is  bound  like  the  lotus  in  the 
swamp,  and  it  is  by  giving  bread  to  the  doorkeeper  that  he  sees  a 
ray  of  light. 

The  armorer  is  put  to  great  trouble  when  he  sets  out  for  distant 

1  Allusion  to  a  common  mode  of  punishment. 


32  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

lands,  he  must  pay  much  for  his  pack  mules.  He  must  pay  much 
for  their  keep  while  on  the  road.  Scarcely  does  he  reach  home  once 
more  than  he  must  leave  again. 

The  messenger  leaving  for  distant  lands  wills  his  property  to  his 
children,  for  he  fears  wild  beasts  and  the  Asiatics.  And  what  hap- 
pens when  he  is  once  again  in  Egypt?  Scarcely  does  he  reach  home 
once  more  than  he  must  leave  again.  If  he  goes,  his  sorrow  is  a 
burden  to  him,  and  all  his  happiness  is  gone. 

The  dyer's  fingers  reek,  and  the  smell  is  like  rotten  fish.  His  eyes 
are  heavy  with  fatigue,  and  his  hand  does  not  stop.  He  passes  his 
time  cutting  up  rags.  .  .  .  He  has  a  hatred  of  garments. 

The  shoemaker  is  very  unfortunate.  He  begs  ceaselessly.  His 
health  is  the  health  of  spoiled  fish.  He  gnaws  his  leather. 

The  laundry-man  washing  by  the  riverside  is  a  neighbor  of  the 
crocodile.  While  he  beats  the  dirt  out  in  the  water  his  hand  does 
not  stop.  It  is  forsooth  no  easy  trade  that  I  describe  to  you,  no 
craft  agreeable  above  all  others.  His  food  is  laid  with  his  clothes, 
and  no  part  of  his  body  is  clean.  He  is  as  wretched  as  a  woman. 
When  I  see  him  in  his  misery  I  bewail  his  lot,  for  he  passes  his  time 
with  his  beating  stick  in  his  hand.  When  I  bring  him  clothes  to  be 
washed,  he  is  told,  "If  you  are  slow  in  bringing  them  back,  you  will 
be  slapped  on  both  cheeks." 

The  baker  makes  dough,  and  subjects  the  loaves  to  the  fire;  while 
his  head  is  inside  the  oven,  his  son  holds  him  by  the  legs:  if  he  slips 
from  the  hands  of  his  son,  he  falls  into  the  flames. 

Other  workmen  are  described  in  the  enumeration,  such  as 
the  boatman,  the  husbandman,  the  market-gardener,  the 
farmer,  the  fowler,  and  the  fisherman.  These,  however,  are 
not  industrial  pursuits,  though  they  are  an  indication  of  the 
degree  of  the  division  of  labor  that  is  associated  with  the 
rise  of  crafts  in  industry.  When  the  list  of  crafts  is  com- 
pleted from  other  references,  the  number  and  character  of 
the  crafts  of  the  period  would  bear  comparison  with  condi- 
tions in  the  smaller  towns  of  the  early  middle  ages.  Some 
of  these  craftsmen  seem  to  be  engaged  in  wage-work,  render- 
ing services  for  remuneration  of  some  sort:  the  barber,  the 
mason,  the  stone-cutter,  the  laundry-man,  the  messenger, 
Trade  among  and  the  like.  Others  make  articles  for  a  market, 
artisans  There  is  a  grave  relief  of  the  Fifth  Dynasty,1 

depicting  a  market  scene  which  shows  various  craftsmen 

1  The  Sakkara  relief;  see  Maspero,  Dawn  of  Civilization,  i,  322-23. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       33 

disposing  of  their  wares  among  themselves  and  to  the  fel- 
lahs who  have  come  in  from  the  suburbs  with  garden  pro- 
duce, game,  and  fish.  The  trade  is  by  barter.  The  crafts- 
men indicated  are:  glassbead-makers,  makers  of  fans  and 
blowers  for  fires,  shoemakers,  metal-workers  (a  man  with 
fish-hooks),  and  a  perfumer.  Some  craftsmen  at  least  de- 
voted time  to  the  preparation  of  wares  for  sale  to  their  fellows 
and  the  country  people.  In  the  daily  life  of  the  humbler 
citizens,  at  least,  the  essential  features  of  pure  craft-work  are 
clearly  evident  at  the  dawn  of  Egyptian  history. 

Artisans  were  employed  in  three  ways:  on  the  estates  of 
some  great  landlord,  royal  or  noble;  in  the  workshops  of  the 
temples;  and  on  then-  own  account.  The  royal  The  position 
household  derived  most  of  its  income  from  serv-  of  the  artisan 
ices  and  tools  rendered  as  a  tax  or  tribute  by  the  various 
artisans  and  agriculturalists.  The  pictures  of  workmen 
bringing  goods  to  the  royal  storehouses,  thus,  should  not 
be  interpreted  as  evidence  that  the  workmen  were  perma- 
nently attached  to  the  household.  Some  considerable  por- 
tion of  the  output  would  be  required  by  the  King,  but  much 
of  their  time  was  at  then:  own  disposal.  The  work  done  for 
the  temples  might  be  arranged  for  in  a  variety  of  ways;  it 
is  conceivable  that  some  artisans  should  be  permanently 
attached  to  the  service  of  the  temple,  and  slaves  were,  of 
course,  employed.  Much  of  the  work,  however,  was  prob- 
ably done  by  artisans  hired  for  the  occasion  by  those  directing 
the  work  of  the  temple.  The  tomb  of  Rekhmire  (Eight- 
eenth Dynasty)  depicts  the  operations  of  large  numbers  of 
craftsmen  employed  on  work  for  the  temple.  Workers  in 
leather,  wood,  stone,  gold,  silver,  and  copper  are  repre- 
sented. The  brickmakers  in  the  building  scenes  are  defi- 
nitely stated  to  be  captives;  the  other  craftsmen  are  appar- 
ently freemen.  There  are  two  scenes  suggesting  payment: 
in  one  scene  the  workmen  with  their  wives  and  children 
file  by  the  officials  at  the  storehouse  and  receive  grain,  oil, 
and  clothing;  in  the  other  scene  there  are  scribes  and  over- 
seers for  each  group  of  workmen,  and  with  each  group  of 
supervisors  there  is  one  man  with  a  money  bag.  There  is 


34  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

therefore  some  slight  reason  to  assume  that  the  workmen 
were  paid  a  portion  of  their  wages  in  money,  though  the  man 
with  the  purse  may  be  a  purely  symbolic  figure.  That  the 
workmen  received  some  portion  of  their  wages  in  kind  is 
altogether  probable,  but  such  use  was  made  of  gold  and  copper 
rings  as  to  make  some  issue  of  currency  equally  probable. 

The  list  of  crafts  in  early  Egypt  is  interesting  because  it 
is  evident  that  the  crafts  do  not  appear  in  the  order  of  their 
importance  in  the  field  of  consumption.  The  textile  crafts 
are  first  represented  by  the  dyers.  Weavers  are  mentioned 
in  the  enumeration  of  the  scribe,  but  it  is  generally  held  that 
weaving  remained  the  work  of  women  in  the  households  until 
the  Twentieth  Dynasty.  The  word  translated  " weaver"  in 
the  manuscript  of  the  scribe  is  doubtful  and  it  seems  likely 
that  it  was  at  least  uncommon  to  find  a  man  whose  sole  occu- 
pation was  weaving. 

III.  MESOPOTAMIA 

The  increase  of  our  knowledge  of  the  history  of  Mesopo- 
tamia in  the  early  pre-Christian  era  is  still  proceeding  so 
Shortcomings  rapidly  that  no  account  of  political  or  social  life 
of  the  records  can  ke  more  than  tentative.  The  process  of  de- 
ciphering the  clay  tablets,  also,  presents  difficulties  that  are 
of  special  moment  in  the  study  of  industrial  development. 
The  designations  of  various  kinds  of  artificers  and  workmen 
are  uncertain,  and  there  are  considerable  differences  of 
opinion  as  to  the  correct  translation  of  many  terms.  The 
publications  of  texts  afford  only  a  partial  knowledge  of  the 
matters  involved,  and  though  the  records  at  our  disposal 
are  peculiarly  specific,  our  knowledge  of  the  substance  is 
vague  and  uncertain.  Contracts,  receipts,  accounts,  lists  of 
officials  and  servants  are  all  precise,  with  the  precision  of 
legal  documents,  but  it  is  difficult  to  translate  these  records 
without  interpreting  them  in  the  light  of  our  own  institu- 
tions. Furthermore,  the  actual  mass  of  material  is  small 
relative  to  the  needs  of  the  student  of  social  life,  and  at  best 
we  have  only  a  glimpse  of  the  economic  arrangements  of 
these  Mesopotamian  peoples. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       35 

In  general,  industrial  arts  were  less  diversified  than  in 
Egypt;  there  was  less  work  done  in  wood,  in  the  metals, 
and  in  leather.  The  woolen  industry  was  by  industry  and 
far  the  most  important  of  the  entire  group  of  comm«rc« 
occupations  if  we  judge  by  the  references  in  available  sources. 
The  early  development  of  systems  of  weights  and  measures, 
however,  and  the  use  of  the  precious  metals  as  money  re- 
sulted in  the  abandonment  of  pure  barter  at  an  early  date. 
There  was  also  a  caravan  trade  with  the  coast,  so  that  the 
general  aspect  of  Mesopotamian  life  is  more  nearly  compar- 
able to  modern  life  than  the  relatively  passive  economic 
system  of  Egypt.  The  activity  of  commercial  life  brings 
us  rather  closer  to  these  peoples  than  to  other  peoples  of 
antiquity. 

The  abundant  materials  from  the  reign  of  Hammurabi 
(2143-2097  B.C.)  afford  us  references  to  the  following  crafts: 
brick-makers  (?),  tailors,  carpenters,  masons,  The  list  of 
branders,  surgeons,  builders  of  houses,  boat-  crafts 
builders,  metal-workers,  and  weavers.  In  the  code  of  Ham- 
murabi there  are  several  articles  dealing  with  the  sale  of 
beer,  or  some  similar  kind  of  alcoholic  drink,  but  there  is  no 
indication  of  a  distinct  group  of  brewers.  Tablets  of  the 
seventh  century  B.C.  add  to  this  list,  spinners,  dyers,  washer- 
men, bakers,  harness-makers,  jewelers,  potters,  wood-carv- 
ers, and  specialized  workers  in  the  various  metals. 

The  status  of  artisans  is  somewhat  uncertain,  because  the 
statements  about  wages  and  the  hire  of  artisans  cannot  be 
assumed  to  refer  to  the  hire  of  free  artisans.  Slaves  were 
kept,  and  were  systematically  farmed  out  for  hire,  the  pro- 
ceeds being  paid  to  the  master.  At  the  same  time  there  is 
little  doubt  but  that  there  were  important  classes  of  free 
artisans,  who  worked  for  hire  for  various  individuals,  for  the 
King,  and  for  temples. 

The  temples  were,  as  in  Egypt,  business  institutions  of 
great  importance.  •  They  possessed  large  estates  which  pro- 
duced grain  and  wool.  These  supplies  exceeded  „ 

J .     .  ,  .  .  it...  The  temples 

their  own  needs,  and  became  the  basis  of  com- 
mercial activity.     The  wool  was  sold  at  tunes  to  artisans; 


36  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

more  frequently,  artisans  were  hired  to  work  the  raw  mate- 
rial up  into  cloth.  This  system  was  of  great  antiquity.  It  is 
clearly  indicated  by  tablets  dating  between  2700  and  2580 
B.C.,  and  continued  without  essential  change  until  the  seventh 
century.  In  one  of  the  earliest  temple  records  on  this  sub- 
ject, we  find  one  hundred  and  ninty-one  women  set  to  work 
in  the  " weaving-house"  on  the  supplies  belonging  to  the 
temple.  These  women  were  paid  wages.  Both  wool  and 
metal  were  given  out  to  artisans  to  be  worked  up  at  home. 
The  temples  were  among  the  most  important  centers  of  the 
trade  in  wool  and  woolens. 

Such  establishments  cannot  be  brought  within  the  scope 
of  any  single  classification;  least  of  all  can  such  establish- 
ments be  classified  as  large  households,  in  accordance  with 
Biicher's  scheme,  because  their  production  was  designed  to 
be  sold  in  a  distant  market.  It  is  not  wise  to  endeavor  to 
describe  these  usages  as  a  single  system.  There  was  un- 
doubtedly some  genuine  wage-work,  illustrated  by  the  turn- 
ing over  of  bronze  to  a  free  metal-worker  to  be  made  into  a 
doorkey.  The  issue  of  a  formal  receipt  for  the  bronze  turned 
over  suggests  that  the  work  was  done  outside  the  temple 
grounds,  without  supervision.  When  artisans  came  to  the 
temple  and  brought  raw  materials,  we  may  have  an  indi- 
cation of  craft- work  undertaken  with  a  view  to  sale  to  fellow 
townsmen.  The  supplies  of  raw  wool  collected  by  the  tem- 
ple constituted  the  most  readily  available  surplus  and  were 
thus  naturally  the  basis  for  this  trade.  There  is  therefore  a 
presumption,  at  least,  in  favor  of  the  existence  of  some  craft- 
work.  The  situation  of  the  women  employed  on  the  prem- 
ises of  the  temple  seems  to  present  strong  analogies  to  a  rudi- 
mentary factory,  and  yet  it  is  hardly  wise  to  apply  the  term 
without  some  qualifying  adjective.  The  general  aspect  of 
industrial  life  is  too  rudimentary  to  make  it  desirable  to  apply 
any  of  the  modern  terms,  unless  it  is  clearly  recognized  that 
a  "putting-out  system"  or  a  " factory"  can  exist  in  so  simple 
a  form  as  not  to  be  out  of  keeping  with  conditions  that  in 
general  represent  the  beginnings  of  craft-industry. 

The  important  revelations  of  the  sources  consist  in  the 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       37 

clear  evidence  afforded  of  production  for  the  relatively  dis- 
tant markets  of  the  Syrian  coast  towns  and  Egypt;  the 
evidence  of  the  existence  of  professionalized  crafts;  and 
the  indication  that  the  artisans  were  substantially  free  men 
working  for  wages. 

"If  an  artisan  take  a  son  for  adoption,"  says  the  Code 
of  Hammurabi  (sections  188-189),  "and  teach  him  his 
handicraft,  one  may  not  bring  claim  for  him.  If  status  of 
he  do  not  teach  him  his  handicraft,  that  son  artisans 
may  return  to  his  father's  house."  Such  provisions  intimate 
the  existence  of  a  system  of  apprenticeship  for  the  trans- 
mission of  craft-knowledge,  but  one  must  remember  that 
the  full  significance  of  this  as  of  other  practices  depends  in 
part  upon  the  numbers  of  persons  involved.  By  the  seventh 
century  B.C.  there  is  unmistakable  evidence  that  the  mem- 
bers of  the  various  crafts  were  congregated  in  special  quar- 
ters of  the  towns,  as  in  Egypt.  There  were  also  certain  offi- 
cers with  authority  over  the  crafts.  The  translation  of  the 
titles  are  uncertain  and  the  functions  of  the  officials  are 
unknown.  Maspero  is  inclined  to  attribute  administrative 
functions  to  the  officials  of  the  Egyptian  crafts,  but  such  a 
supposition  reflects  medieval  analogies  rather  th'an  con- 
temporary evidence.  Writing  of  the  Assyrian  Possible  craft 
officials,  Johns  inclines  to  a  military  interpre-  o^**™*™* 
tation.  This  would  still  bear  analogy  to  the  obligation  of 
the  medieval  craftsmen  to  do  watch  and  ward  duty  in  the 
city,  but  such  a  supposition  would  not  imply  the  existence 
of  organized  craft  gilds.  That  some  organization  of  the 
members  of  the  crafts  began  to  emerge  in  the  late  period  is 
highly  probable,  with  reference  both  to  Egypt  and  to  the 
cities  of  Mesopotamia,  but  we  cannot  be  sure  of  the  nature 
of  the  arrangements. 

The  existence  of  manufacture  for  export,  of  traces  of  craft 
organization,  even  rudimentary  establishments  for  large- 
scale  production,  none  of  these  facts  should  close  Craft  8peciali. 
our  eyes  to  the  infancy  of  organized  industry,  zation  merely 
The  types  appear,  but  the  scale  of  all  these  beginBing 
phenomena  is  small.     Exportation  was  infrequent,  and  of 


38  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

small  volume.  Crafts  were  present,  but,  for  the  most  part, 
only  the  most  moderate  skill  was  required  and  some  of  the 
differentiation  was  based  on  varying  degrees  of  physical 
fitness  rather  than  upon  definite  professional  skill.  A  lame 
man  would  be  as  effective  as  a  smith  as  a  man  with  two  good 
legs;  hence  in  Greek  mythology  Hephaistos  the  smith  is 
lame.  Edouard  Meyer  suggests  also  that  Homer  is  repre- 
sented as  blind,  because  blind  men  so  characteristically  be- 
came singers.  The  singer  was  naturally  thought  of  as  being 
blind.  These  suggestions  are,  of  course,  pure  conjecture, 
and  they  are  drawn  from  Greek  sources,  but  if  these  notions 
have  any  validity  they  would  have  more  than  a  narrowly 
local  application.  They  serve  a  real  purpose  if  they  empha- 
size the  slight  basis  of  craft  differentiation  in  these  early 
periods.  The  processes  were  in  most  cases  simple,  well 
within  the  capacities  of  the  more  adaptable  workers  without 
great  preliminary  training.  The  greater  abundance  of  evi- 
dence makes  it  easier  to  find  illustrations  for  these  supposi- 
tions in  the  history  of  Greek  industry,  but  the  qualifications 
are  perhaps  even  more  important  for  the  interpretation  of 
the  industrial  development  of  the  Egyptian  and  Mesopo- 
tamia peoples. 

IV.  GREECE 

The  rise  of  Greek  civilization  takes  place  within  the  general 
limits  of  the  historic  period,  so  that  we  catch  glimpses  of  the 
development  considerably  before  culture  had  reached  the 
stage  of  conscious  record-making.  There  is  a  semi-historic 
period,  of  which  we  gain  some  knowledge  from  archeology 
and  poetic  literature.  These  materials,  however,  are  so 
Divergent  difficult  of  interpretation  that  every  possible 
Greek°devei-y  view  is  championed  by  some  scholar  or  scholars, 
opment  Some  say  that  the  Greeks  of  this  period  were 

wholly  devoted  to  agriculture,  feared  the  sea,  and  therefore 
engaged  in  commerce  only  in  the  most  casual  way.  Others 
are  convinced  that  the  Greeks  were  engaged  in  active  com- 
merce with  Egypt  and  the  Syrian  coast  at  least  a  couple  of 
centuries  before  the  Trojan  War.  Some  declare  that  the 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       39 

Greeks  merely  absorbed  various  notable  features  of  the  cul- 
ture of  Egypt;  others  reduce  the  borrowing  from  Egypt  to 
an  inconsiderable  minimum.  Judgment  based  on  the  scant 
evidence  in  our  possession  is  little  more  than  a  reflection  of 
preconceived  notions  as  to  what  is  probable. 

In  general  there  is  probably  a  disposition  to  underesti- 
mate the  significance  of  trade  among  undeveloped  peoples. 
The  presumptions  of  naive  thought  are  com-  Disposition  to 
prehensively  stated  in  the  scheme  of  develop-  S^coSm^rcui 
ment  in  List's  National  System  of  Political  background 
Economy.  The  stages  of  economic  evolution  are  character- 
ized thus :  savagery,  pastoral  culture,  agriculture,  agriculture 
combined  with  manufactures,  agriculture  combined  with 
manufacture  and  commerce.  Trade  is  thus  made  to  appear 
as  the  climax  or  final  result  of  a  long  economic  evolution. 
The  widespread  disposition  to  exaggerate  the  difficulties  of 
transportation  confirms  the  presumption  that  is  dormant 
in  nearly  all  naive  economic  thinking.  The  wide  appeal  of 
Biicher's  views  depended  in  no  small  measure  upon  the 
adroit  formulation  of  all  these  naive  presumptions  with  all 
the  paraphernalia  of  erudite  scholarship.  The  study  of 
primitive  peoples,  together  with  what  we  know  of  the  ancient 
world,  shows  us  that  commerce  plays  an  important  part 
even  in  primitive  life.  Instead  of  evolving  successively, 
commerce  and  industry  must  needs  develop  simultaneously, 
and  though  there  are  many  reciprocal  influences  it  is  most 
likely  that  commerce  is  the  conditioning  factor  in  industrial 
development.  This  is  designed  to  be  the  thesis  of  the  pres- 
ent work,  and  it  is  hoped  that  it  will  be  possible  to  show 
that  the  character  of  industrial  development  has  been  at  all 
times  a  reflection  of  the  commercial  background,  and  that 
the  great  changes  in  industrial  organization  are  the  out- 
come of  changes  in  commercial  conditions  which  promote 
growth  of  population,  concentration  of  population,  or  both 
gross  increase  and  greater  concentration.  Certain  aspects  of 
the  Industrial  Revolution  have  closed  our  eyes  to  these  larger 
relations  between  industry  and  commerce. 

We  can  therefore  approach  these  ambiguous  indications 


40  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

of  the  nature  of  early  Greek  development  with  a  presump- 
The  commer-  tion  in  favor  of  what  we  may  call  the  commer- 
cial theory  c jaj  theory.  This  seems,  moreover,  to  be  in  ac- 
cord with  modern  tendencies  of  critical  scholarship.  It  is 
obviously  desirable  to  avoid  extremes,  and  it  is  above  all 
necessary  to  avoid  building  elaborate  theories  of  develop- 
ment upon  single  bits  of  archeological  or  literary  evidence. 
Mr.  Walter  Leaf's  studies  of  the  Iliad  bring  to  the  subject 
the  monographic  spirit,  and  though  much  must  be  regarded 
as  mere  conjecture  the  conclusions  are  significant.  His  the- 
sis may  be  stated  briefly.  The  Trojan  War  seems  to  him  to 
have  been  the  outcome  of  economic  rather  than  romantic 
causes.  He  regards  the  enterprise  as  an  attempt  on  the  part 
of  the  Greeks  to  destroy  a  powerful  town  which  shut  them 
out  of  the  Dardanelles  and  the  Black  Sea.  He  endeavors  to 
show  that  Troy  had  been  a  trading  station  at  which  the 
Greeks  met  the  peoples  of  the  Black  Sea  under  Trojan  aus- 
pices. Tiring  of  the  payment  of  tribute  and  the  inconven- 
iences of  such  indirect  methods,  the  Greeks  at  last  banded 
together  in  the  great  military  enterprise.  Mr.  Leaf  brings 
this  view  forward  with  due  modesty.  Nothing  can  really  be 
proved.  But  we  can  at  least  recognize  the  consistency  of  such 
an  interpretation  with  the  economic  conditions  of  the  early 
period  of  Greek  development. 

The  industrial  growth  of  the  sixth  and  fifth  centuries  B.C. 
was  in  large  measure  dependent  upon  the  extensive  carrying 
trade  that  sprang  up  in  the  period  following  the  Trojan  War. 
If  we  include  the  Phrenician  traders,  as  we  should  in  any  study 
of  antiquity,  we  could  say  with  truth  that  the  brilliant  civili- 
zation of  the  Grseco-Roman  world  was  based  on  the  spirit  of 
adventure  shown  by  these  navigators  whose  energies  brought 
all  the  peoples  of  the  Mediterranean  world  into  close  con- 
tact. The  diversity  of  products  was  stimulating  to  indus- 
try, as  the  diversities  of  culture  were  stimulating  to  litera- 
ture and  art. 

The  study  of  the  economic  development  of  Greece  and 
Rome  has  produced  an  antagonism  between  students  of  his- 
tory and  students  of  literature  and  art  that  is  extremely 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       41 


unfortunate.    It  seems  at  times  as  if  the  students  of  classical 
culture  resented  the  conclusions  of  certain  his-  Classic  sim. 
torical  studies  as  being  an  attempt  to  depreciate 


the  cultural  significance  of  the  achievements  of 
the  classical  period.  There  can  be  no  legitimate  cause  for 
such  alarm.  The  material  concerns  of  life  with  which  the 
economist  is  busied  must  ever  be  a  means  to  an  end,  and  not 
an  end  in  itself.  No  civilization  can  be  justly  appraised  in 
terms  of  its  economic  mechanism.  At  best,  economic  or- 
ganization is  merely  a  way  of  attending  to  the  daily  need  of 
material  things,  and  no  particular  type  of  mechanism  can  be 
deemed  a  measure  of  the  artistic  and  spiritual  achievements 
of  a  people.  High  artistic  accomplishment  is  not  only  pos- 
sible when  life  is  relatively  simple,  but  perhaps  more  likely 
to  occur.  It  may  be  that  our  elaborate  material  civilization 
is  a  positive  hindrance  to  the  attainment  of  the  higher  pur- 
poses of  life. 

The  low  standards  of  artistic  achievement  in  the  early  Vic- 
torian age  may  really  be  due  to  the  displacement  of  the  old 
craft  methods  by  the  technique  of  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion. Production  for  the  masses  is  likely  to  result  in  the  sub- 
ordination of  refinement  in  execution  and  design  to  cheap- 
ness. Production  of  articles  of  luxury  for  a  wealthy  leisure 
class  is  by  necessity  characterized  by  elegance  in  conception 
and  execution.  The  idealization  of  the  medieval  craft-work- 
ers has  made  us  familiar  with  these  divergent  tendencies  be- 
tween artistry  of  production  and  cheapness  of  production, 
and  yet  there  seems  to  be  some  obstacle  to  the  application 
of  these  principles  to  the  achievements  of  the  craftsmen  of 
Greece  and  Rome. 

The  notable  parallels  between  the  classic  period  and  the 
medieval  period  are  neither  willingly  nor  clearly  recognized. 
In  Francotte's  excellent  study  of  the  industrial  Parallels  be- 
development  of  Greece  there  is  no  comparison  a^dthentiqmty 
with  the  middle  ages.     He  compares  Athens  middle  ages 
with  the  Manchester  and  Birmingham  of  the  late  nineteenth 
century:  the  port  of  Delos  with  quays  two  hundred  and  fifty 
meters  long  is  compared  with  our  modern  ports  with  kilo- 


42  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

meters  of  quays.  Industry  and  commerce  compare  unfavor- 
ably with  the  industry  and  commerce  of  Europe  since  the 
Industrial  Revolution,  but  if  we  seek  a  basis  of  comparison 
with  conditions  definitely  prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolution 
the  results  are  different.  Germany  did  not  begin  to  feel  the 
influence  of  the  newer  development  of  industry  and  com- 
merce until  the  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  Prussia  still  dis- 
played the  salient  features  of  medievalism.  There  were 
within  Prussian  boundaries,  1016  places  classified  as  towns 
or  cities.  Berlin  alone  had  more  than  100,000  inhabitants 
(153,000),  being  therefore  slightly  larger  than  Athens  in  the 
tune  of  Pericles.  There  were  three  towns  with  more  than 
50,000:  Warsaw,  64,000;  Breslau,  60,000;  Konigsberg, 
56,000.  Syracuse  and  Corinth  were  considerably  larger  than 
these  second-class  towns  of  Prussia.  At  the  most  prosper- 
ous period  of  Grecian  development  they  had  respectively 
110,000  and  90,000  inhabitants.  Six  towns  of  Greece  are 
mentioned  by  Beloch  as  having  between  40,000  and  50,000 
inhabitants.  Fourteen  Prussian  towns  had  slightly  more 
than  10,000  inhabitants;  Dantzig,  Magdeburg,  Elbing, 
Stettin,  Potsdam,  Erfurt,  Posen,  Halberstadt,  Halle,  Mini- 
ster, Hildesheim,  Emden,  Brandenburg,  and  Frankfurt-am- 
Main.  Of  the  remaining  998  cities,  502  had  a  population  of 
more  than  1000  and  less  than  3000.  This  distribution  of  pop- 
ulation is  characteristically  medieval,  and  such  statistics 
as  we  have  from  the  classical  period  reveal  conditions  that 
are  roughly  comparable.  Rome,  at  the  height  of  her  pros- 
perity, was  larger  than  any  medieval  town;  but  with  that  ex- 
ception the  distribution  of  population  in  the  classical  period 
bears  significant  comparison  with  the  distribution  of  pop- 
ulation in  the  middle  ages. 

There  is  so  close  a  relationship  between  industry  and  popu- 
lation, that  the  similarities  underlying  urban  life  lead  di- 
rectly to  a  presumption  in  favor  of  notable  similarities  in 
industrial  development.  With  reference  to  economic  condi- 
tions, the  medieval  period  has  more  hi  common  with  classical 
antiquity  than  with  modern  times.  The  Industrial  Revolu- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY        43 

tion  marks  a  transformation  of  social  conditions  which 
separates  the  modern  period  distinctively  from  both  the  ear- 
lier periods.  Despite  our  intellectual  and  artistic  heritage 
from  the  classical  period,  we  can  interpret  the  scant  evidence 
bearing  on  the  social  life  of  Greece  and  Rome  only  in  terms 
of  our  knowledge  of  the  middle  ages.  The  so-called  "dark 
ages"  constitute  perhaps  an  interlude,  but  there  is  no  pro- 
found change  in  the  general  character  of  economic  arrange- 
ments; merely  the  ebb  and  flow  that  constitute  the  move- 
ment of  all  historical  growth. 

There  is  enough  material  to  enable  us  to  distinguish  some 
of  the  periods  in  the  industrial  development  of  the  Grecian 
world.  The  four  or  five  centuries  between  the  Rise  of  craft_ 
fall  of  Troy  and  the  early  sixth  century  B.C.  are  industry  in 
marked  by  the  establishment  of  the  commercial 
power  of  the  Greeks.  Industry  responded  slowly.  The  crafts 
began  to  emerge,  but  they  were  not  very  clearly  differentiated. 
Metal-workers  are  mentioned.  The  smith's  forge,  like  the 
country  stores  and  smithies  of  the  small  towns  of  our  own 
times,  was  a  resort  for  the  idlers  and  gossips  of  the  village. 
There  is  no  indication  of  specialized  work  in  metals,  least  of 
all  clear  specialization  in  the  preparation  of  different  objects. 
There  were  potters,  but  no  specialization  of  tasks;  the  vases 
and  other  vessels  were  relatively  simple.  The  builders  did 
everything  needful  in  connection  with  building  houses.  They 
could  also  build  ships.  The  same  word  is  applied  also  to 
makers  of  household  furniture,  of  ploughs,  and  objects  of 
horn  and  ivory.  Leather-workers  did  everything  connected 
with  leather,  tanning  as  well  as  shield-making.  These  work- 
ers were  free  to  the  extent  of  not  being  the  slaves  of  any  one 
person,  but  they  did  not  enjoy  all  the  rights  of  peasants. 
The  craftsmen  were  employees  working  for  the  village  as  a 
whole. 

Between  the  sixth  and  fourth  centuries  B.C.  the  speciali- 
zation of  crafts  developed  rapidly.  "In  the  larger  towns," 
says   Xenophon    in   the   Cyropoedia  (vm,  2),  specialization 
"where  many  people  have  similar  wants,  a  single  by  Processes 
craft  is  a  means  of  livelihood.     Frequently,  the  craftsman 


44  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

does  not  practice  the  entire  craft:  one  makes  men's  shoes, 
another  makes  women's  shoes;  one  lives  by  sewing  shoes, 
another  by  cutting  leather;  one  cuts  out  tunics,  another  de- 
votes himself  exclusively  to  assembling  the  parts."  In  the 
metal  industries  there  were  distinct  crafts  for  making  each 
of  the  pieces  of  armor  and  for  the  different  weapons.  Hel- 
mets, breastplates,  plumes,  shields,  lances,  and  the  like  were 
turned  out  by  different  craftsmen.  In  the  making  of  pottery 
there  was  definite  division  of  labor  into  the  fundamental 
processes:  the  forming  of  the  vessels  on  the  wheel,  the  firing 
and  the  painting.  The  dictionaries  of  antiquities  afford 
some  indications  of  a  fairly  comprehensive  list  of  crafts,  but 
references  are  so  scattered  as  to  date  and  locality  that  it  is 
scarcely  safe  to  endeavor  to  draw  up  a  list  of  crafts  for  any 
particular  period  or  any  single  town.  We  can  be  sure  that 
craft  specialization  was  far  advanced  in  the  Greek  period,  but 
we  cannot  attempt  any  precise  statement. 

The  third  and  second  centuries  B.C.  are  marked  by  the  de- 
cadence of  some  of  the  Greek  towns,  but  these  changes  were 
the  outcome  of  the  loss  of  political  prestige  and  the  conse- 
quent loss  of  some  of  the  artificial  advantages  that  were  de- 
rived in  industry  and  commerce  from  the  abuse  of  political 
power.  Such  changes,  however,  effect  only  particular  towns 
and  not  the  Grseco-Roman  world  as  a  whole.  There  was  no 
break  in  the  general  course  of  industrial  development. 

One  of  the  notable  features  of  the  industrial  growth  of  the 
larger  Greek  towns  is  the  "factory  system."  Establishments 
of  twenty  or  thirty  persons  existed  in  several 
branches  of  industry.  The  craftsmen  in  these 
undertakings  were  usually  slaves,  who  worked  under  the 
supervision  of  the  owner  or  his  agent.  At  times  the  entire 
group  was  farmed  out  to  some  contractor.  Francotte  cites 
a  number  of  cases  recorded  in  Athenian  wills.  One  Conon 
left  two  establishments:  one  of  textile  workers,  one  of  drug- 
gists. Timarchus  left  a  number  of  industrial  slaves:  nine 
shoemakers,  a  female  weaver,  a  maker  of  fancy  objects,  and 
two  gangs  of  silver  miners.  The  father  of  Demosthenes  left 
two  workshops:  one  of  knife-makers,  with  a  personnel  of 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       45 

thirty-two  or  three  persons;  one  of  bed-makers,  with  a  per- 
sonnel of  twenty.  The  vase-painting  establishments  were 
of  about  the  same  type;  between  ten  and  twenty  workmen 
were  usually  employed,  and,  although  such  subjects  were 
rarely  chosen  for  vase-painting,  we  have  a  representation  of  a 
vase  manufactory  with  eight  workmen.  All  the  processes  are 
shown  and  the  general  aspect  of  the  workrooms.  Separate 
rooms  were  required  for  firing,  shaping,  and  painting.  Some 
portions  of  the  work  were  done  out  of  doors  under  canvas 
shelters,  but  most  of  the  operations  were  by  necessity  done  in 
definite  workshops.  The  methods  of  signing  the  vases  dis- 
tinguish between  the  proprietor  and  the  vase  painter  respon- 
sible for  the  decorations.  These  signatures  afford  clear  evi- 
dence that  this  most  important  industry  was  not  entirely 
dominated  by  slave  labor.  In  a  number  of  some  free 
cases  the  same  person  is  designated  as  being  artisans 
both  proprietor  and  painter.  One  Athenian  painter,  Eu- 
phronius,  rose  from  being  a  painter  in  establishments  be- 
longing to  others  to  the  proprietorship  of  an  establishment 
of  his  own.  Such  at  least  is  the  story  that  can  be  read  from 
a  number  of  inscriptions  and  signatures. 

Biicher  classified  these  establishments  as  cases  of  "  house- 
hold industry,"  a  household  whose  membership  had  been 
enlarged  by  the  addition  of  slaves,  but  still  hi  legal  form  a 
household.  This  is  more  misleading  than  helpful.  Some 
free  industry  existed  side  by  side  with  these  slave  establish- 
ments, and  all  were  producing  goods  for  sale  in  the  market; 
at  tunes  a  local  market  and  at  times  an  export  market.  The 
workrooms  were  not  a  portion  of  the  dwelling-house;  in  many 
cases,  at  least,  they  seem  to  have  been  specialized  quarters 
exclusively  devoted  to  industry.  Francotte  still  hesitates 
to  apply  the  term  "factory."  He  fears  that  the  reader 
will  assume  the  existence  of  conditions  such  as  unwillingness 
followed  the  Industrial  Revolution.  All  these  jo  recognize 
discussions  are  a  reflection  of  the  unfortunate 
modes  of  thought  suggested  by  Rodbertus  and  Biicher.  The 
character  of  industrial  life  is  only  partially  indicated  by  the 
forms  of  organization.  The  progress  of  economic  evolution 


46  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

is  not  entirely  a  matter  of  developing  certain  forms,  even  if 
one  were  to  assume  that  there  were  no  differences  to  be  ob- 
served beyond  the  bare  facts  of  the  most  general  classification. 
The  industrial  life  of  a  period  can  be  appraised  and  described 
only  as  a  complex  of  elements.  The  degree  of  specialization 
of  crafts  must  be  considered;  the  extent  of  the  horizontal 
division  of  labor,  if  any;  the  scale  of  production  and  the 
character  of  the  market;  lastly,  the  forms  of  organization. 

We  have  been  too  much  inclined  to  suppose  that  factories 
and  the  factory  system  are  the  distinctive  and  exclusive 
feature  of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  forgetting  that  small 
factories  had  emerged  at  various  times  and  places  through- 
out the  period  which  we  think  of  as  dominated  by  craft  in- 
dustry. There  is  no  reason  to  feel  that  there  is  anything 
abnormal  in  the  emergence  of  various  small  factories  in  the 
classical  period.  Nor  is  there  any  reason  for  hesitating  to 
admit  frankly  that  these  sporadic  tendencies  toward  the  fac- 
tory system  were  rather  more  conspicuous  in  classical  than 
in  medieval  times.  The  putting-out  system  dominates  the 
middle  ages  in  the  more  elaborately  developed  industries. 
From  the  employer's  point  of  view  it  would  doubtless  have 
been  more  convenient  to  have  his  people  collected  in  a  work- 
shop, but  the  development  toward  the  factory  was  checked. 
The  free  workmen  of  the  middle  ages  disliked  the  restraints 
of  the  factory,  and  the  crafts,  composed  in  large  measure  of 
small  masters,  were  able  to  exert  sufficient  political  pressure 
to  suppress  the  sporadic  attempts  to  bring  workmen  to- 
gether in  factories.  The  significant  struggle  of  the  English 
crafts  against  these  tendencies  will  be  treated  in  a  subsequent 
chapter.1  It  must  needs  suffice  here  to  call  attention  to  the 
fact.  Slavery  and  the  absence  of  any  significant  craft  or- 
ganization left  the  employers  of  the  classical  period  free  to 
organize  these  small  factories,  and  it  is  perhaps  more  signi- 
ficant to  recognize  this  tendency  and  its  causes  than  to  en- 
deavor to  obscure  the  real  facts.  The  existence  of  these 
factories  does  not  indicate  a  departure  from  the  general  con- 
ditions of  craft  industry.  This  degree  of  capitalistic  control, 

1  Infra,  chapter  vm,  §  ni. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       47 

which  can  be  expressed  either  in  the  factory  or  in  the  put- 
ting-out system,  is  a  characteristic  feature  of  the  later  forms 
of  handicraft  industry. 

It  would  be  highly  desirable  to  be  able  to  reach  a  definite 
conclusion  with  reference  to  the  relative  importance  of 
slaves  to  freemen  in  industry.  It  is  unfortu-  slavery  in 
nately  impossible.  Using  practically  the  same  Greece 
general  figures  from  the  classical  sources,  Francotte  and 
Edouard  Meyer  reach  opposite  conclusions.  A  neutral  read- 
ing of  this  controversial  literature  leaves  the  general  impres- 
sion that  the  defenders  of  free  labor  have  the  better  case.  In- 
dustry as  a  whole  was  not  decisively  dominated  either  by  free 
or  by  slave  labor.  With  the  exception  of  the  extractive  in- 
dustries, in  Greece  free  labor  at  least  held  its  own.  The  com- 
petition of  the  industrial  slaves  of  the  aristocrats  was  serious 
but  the  freeman  could  none  the  less  live  by  his  craft.  Slav- 
ery afforded  the  wealthy  an  opportunity  to  participate  in  the 
profits  of  industrial  enterprise  without  loss  of  caste.  De- 
spite competition  the  two  systems  could  exist  side  by  side 
without  destroying  each  other;  their  existence  was  not  exclu- 
sively dependent  upon  their  advantages  as  methods  of  pro- 
ducing their  wares.  The  free  artisan  was  perhaps  a  foreigner, 
excluded  from  full  civil  rights;  an  inconspicuous  factor  in 
political  and  social  life,  but  economically  important.  In 
many  cities  of  the  ancient  world  the  commerce  and  industry 
of  the  locality  was  really  in  the  hands  of  these  foreigners;  the 
participation  of  the  aristocrats  in  business  enterprise  was 
somewhat  incidental.  The  casual  references  in  literature 
are  an  uncertain  index  of  the  proportionate  importance  of 
these  two  elements  hi  business  life,  as  literature  was  pre- 
dominantly occupied  with  the  doings  of  the  aristocrats. 
Other  materials  are  too  meager  to  afford  clear  evidence  of 
the  proportionate  importance  of  these  diverse  elements  in 
the  community. 

V.  ROME  AND  CONSTANTINOPLE 

For  the  last  century  of  the  Republic  and  the  period  of  the 
Empire  considerable  information  is  furnished  by  inscriptions. 


48  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

These  materials  are  unsatisfactory  in  many  respects,  but  in 
careful  hands  they  reveal  many  aspects  of  the  organization 
of  the  artisans  of  Rome.  It  has  frequently  been  presumed 
that  some  significant  connection  existed  between  the  craft 
Roman  "col-  gilds  of  the  middle  ages  and  these  "collegia" 
legia"  — associations  of  craftsmen  in  ancient  Rome. 

The  studies  of  Waltzing  show  that  the  comparisons  are  mis- 
leading and  unreal.  These  Roman  organizations  assumed 
a  number  of  fairly  distinct  forms,  but  in  no  case  is  there 
justification  for  any  significant  comparison  with  the  insti- 
tutions of  the  middle  ages.  The  societies  for  the  celebration 
of  funeral  rites  are  similar  in  many  respects  to  the  frater- 
nities or  religious  gilds  of  the  medieval  period,  but  such 
societies  should  be  carefully  distinguished  from  craft  gilds. 
The  Roman  " collegia"  seem  to  have  had  few  distinctively 
economic  functions.  They  were  not  comprehensive  group- 
ings of  all  artisans  exercising  particular  crafts.  Neither  skill 
nor  apprenticeship  was  an  essential  condition  of  entry. 
The  members  of  the  society  do  not  seem  to  have  exercised 
any  of  the  supervisory  powers  that  are  the  distinctive  feature 
of  the  craft  organizations  of  the  middle  ages. 

The  inscriptions,  however,  enable  us  to  gain  considerable 
insight  into  the  degree  of  industrial  specialization  at  Rome. 
The  list  of  The  following  crafts  are  mentioned  in  the  in- 
crafts  scriptions  from  which  Waltzing  prepared  his  list 

of  corporations  at  Rome.  The  crafts  have  been  grouped 
under  the  general  classifications  to  facilitate  economic 
analysis : 

Food,  and  industries  connected  with  food: 

Measurers  of  grain,  workers  in  public  granaries,  perfumers  and 
spicers,  butchers,  inn-keepers,  confectioners,  cooks,  hay-mer- 
chants, fruit-sellers,  merchants  of  vegetables,  bakers,  grain  mer- 
chants, millers,  cattle  merchants,  merchants  of  salt  meats,  wine- 
sellers,  oil  merchants,  pastry-cooks,  fishermen,  fish-merchants, 
salt  merchants,  pork  merchants,  shopkeepers. 

Textiles: 

Dyers,  fullers,  linen  merchants,  embroiderers,  workmen's 
blousemakers,  tailors. 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       49 

Leather: 

Shoemakers,  women's  shoemakers,  tanners,  furriers. 

Metals: 

Smiths  (bronze),  ring-makers,  silversmiths,  goldsmiths,  gold- 
beaters, money-changers,  blacksmiths,  sellers  of  silver  vases, 
mirror-makers. 

Wood  and  manufactures  of  wood: 

Joiners  and  furniture-makers,  wood  merchants,  shipbuilders, 
carpenters,  joiners. 

Stone,  clay  and  building: 

Lime-burners,  ditch-diggers,  lime-porters,  builders,  potters, 
sculptors,  stone-sawyers,  masons,  wreckers  of  buildings. 

Transport- 
Shippers,  muleteers,  boatmen  of  the  Tiber,  "curatores  na- 
vium,"  patrons  of  lighters  on  the  Tiber. 

Artists,  gymnasts,  etc.: 

Musicians  (horns),  horn-players,  mimes,  poets  and  actors, 
lute-players,  wild-beast  chasers,  gladiators. 

Miscellaneous: 

Porters,  wreath-makers,  jailers,  ivory-carvers,  wholesalers, 
bathhouse-keepers,  masseurs,  barbers,  doctors,  pavers,  mer- 
chants of  pigments,  makers  of  dice. 

The  small  number  of  crafts  engaged  in  leather-working  and 
in  textiles  is  noteworthy.  There  was  considerable  diversi- 
fication in  the  metal  trades  and  elaborate  specialization  in 
the  preparation  of  food.  Without  knowledge  of  the  relative 
numbers  of  persons  occupied  in  these  crafts,  it  is  hardly  justi- 
fiable to  assume  that  the  textile  and  leather  groups  were 
relatively  less  important,  but  there  is  strong  presumption  in 
favor  of  such  a  conclusion.  The  preparation  of  clothing  and 
leather  goods  was  primarily  the  work  of  members  of  each, 
household.  Little  specialized  skill  was  required  and  only 
the  very  poor  resorted  to  the  markets  for  the  common  tex- 
tiles or  leather  goods.  The  list  of  crafts  concerned  with  the 
preparation  of  food  products  is  very  impressive,  and  compari- 
son with  the  lists  of  crafts  for  Paris  in  the  eleventh  and  thir- 
teenth centuries  would  suggest  that  elaborate  specialization 
appears  earlier  in  this  general  group  than  in  any  other. 


50  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

At  Constantinople,  toward  the  close  of  the  ninth  century 
A.D.,  conditions  were  more  nearly  comparable  to  medieval 
Crafts  at  conditions.  The  regulations  made  by  the  Pre- 

constantinopie    fect  of  tne  city  for  tne  government  of  the  crafts 

exhibit  many  features  that  are  definitely  analogous  to  con- 
ditions at  Paris  in  the  eleventh  and  thirteenth  centuries. 
The  primary  civil  authority  in  Constantinople  was  exercised 
by  an  official  appointed  directly  by  the  Emperor,  as  the  Pre- 
fect of  Paris  was  appointed  by  the  King.  The  Prefect  of 
Constantinople  had  complete  jurisdiction  over  industrial  and 
commercial  matters  and  issued  strict  regulations.  Some  of 
the  crafts  at  Constantinople  had  no  autonomous 

Craft  autonomy  . 

powers  at  all;  some  seem  to  have  been  in  the 
way  of  acquiring  a  small  measure  of  autonomy  in  the  en- 
forcement of  the  rules  and  customs  of  the  craft.  The  per- 
fumers were  instructed  to  prevent  the  preparation  or  sale 
of  defective  or  inferior  wares  "by  mutual  oversight  over 
each  other."  The  spicers  were  charged  with  the  supervision 
of  all  wares  of  their  craft,  in  order  to  prevent  the  making  of 
hoards,  whether  by  members  of  the  craft  or  by  others.  Simi- 
lar functions  were  delegated  to  the  chief  merchants  of  pork 
products.  These  various  functions  of  supervision  are  compar- 
able to  the  "view  of  the  craft"  that  became  the  characteris- 
tic privilege  of  the  more  powerful  medieval  craft  gilds.  It 
would  seem  that  administrative  functions  were  in  process  of 
development  at  Constantinople.  The  fundamental  back- 
ground can  hardly  have  been  very  different  from  the  condi- 
tions at  Rome  under  the  Empire,  and  thus  we  may  well  be- 
lieve that  gilds  similar  in  most  features  to  the  medieval  gilds 
might  develop  in  the  Roman  world,  though  we  have  no  evi- 
dence that  the  process  of  development  was  continued  to  that 
point  except  at  Constantinople.  The  book  of  the  Prefect  at 
Constantinople  is  therefore  an  indication  that  the  conditions 
favorable  to  the  growth  of  craft  gild  organization  might 
normally  be  expected  to  appear  in  the  course  of  the  indus- 
trial development  of  any  large  town.  This  particular  form 
of  craft  organization  should  not  be  associated  uniquely  with 
medieval  conditions,  nor  should  it  be  presumed  to  be  merely 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  CRAFTS  IN  ANTIQUITY       51 

copied  from  some  Roman  or  Eastern  model.  When  the  de- 
gree of  craft  specialization  had  become  considerable,  it  was 
perfectly  natural  that  the  administrative  officers  should 
delegate  certain  functions  of  supervision  that  could  best  be 
discharged  by  persons  acquainted  with  the  technique  of  the 
craft.  The  gild  can  best  be  regarded  as  a  spontaneous  out- 
growth of  industrial  conditions. 


CHAPTER  III 
CRAFTS  AND  CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE 


THE  break-up  of  the  Roman  Empire  was  followed  by  dif- 
ferent results  in  the  various  European  provinces.  In  Eng- 
land and  in  Germany  the  Teutonic  influences  speedily  became 
predominant.  In  Italy  there  was  a  marked  decline,  as  soon 
as  the  provinces  ceased  to  send  their  tribute  in  money  and 
in  kind.  In  France  the  disappearance  of  the  administrative 
framework  of  the  Empire  left  many  aspects  of  social  life  un- 
changed. The  Roman  cities  of  southern  France  maintained 
Roman  themselves  after  a  fashion  and  the  commercial 

influence  \tfe  t^at  had  developed  was  not  destroyed.  The 
Teutonic  tribes  entering  Gaul  brought  with  them  many  new 
political  conceptions,  but  the  economic  life  of  the  Roman  prov- 
ince was  accepted  by  them  and  many  elements  of  Roman 
culture  were  adopted.  France  became  by  force  of  circum- 
stances one  of  the  closest  bonds  between  the  old  Roman 
civilization  and  the  new  Teutonic  civilization  that  was  rapidly 
assuming  significant  form.  The  relative  continuity  of  social 
growth  is  a  notable  feature  of  the  history  of  France;  else- 
where in  the  north  of  Europe  the  break  with  the  institutions 
of  the  Empire  was  so  complete  that  the  Roman  background 
exerted  little  or  no  direct  influence  upon  the  course  of 
development. 

Much  of  the  controversy  that  has  existed  among  scholars 
as  to  the  relative  importance  of  Roman  and  Teutonic  insti- 
tutions would  seem  to  be  resolved  by  frank  recognition  of  the 
diversities  of  development  in  different  portions  of  Europe. 
There  were  many  elements  of  Roman  agrarian  and  industrial 
institutions  that  could  be  harmonized  with  the  usages  of  the 
invaders.  Roman  customs  could  easily  be  incorporated  with 
the  Teutonic  modes  of  life  without  making  the  final  result 
essentially  different  from  results  achieved  in  provinces  where 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  53 

Roman  influences  were  negligible.  The  condition  of  the  un- 
free  tillers  of  the  soil  displays  most  notably  the  possibilities 
of  reaching  substantially  the  same  results  from  both  Roman 
and  Teutonic  backgrounds.  The  existence  of  Roman  influ- 
ences in  certain  sections  thus  does  not  even  create  a  presump- 
tion in  favor  of  similar  influences  elsewhere.  The  French 
writers  who  find  Roman  influences  in  France  are  therefore 
quite  as  trustworthy  as  the  German  writers  who  deny  the 
existence  of  similar  influences  hi  Germany  and  in  England. 

With  reference  to  commerce  and  industry  the  situation  is 
somewhat  different,  because  France  and  Italy  were  more 
important  both  before  and  after  the  fall  of  Rome.  There 
was  more  urban  concentration,  more  commerce,  and  a  more 
highly  diversified  industrial  life.  Many  of  these  economic 
activities  survived  the  tumult  of  the  invasions.  The  admin- 
istrative regulations  of  the  Empire  disappeared  almost  en- 
tirely, most  particularly  the  corporate  organization  of  the 
crafts,  but  the  crafts  themselves  survived.  The  commercial 
and  industrial  life  of  Roman  Gaul  exerted  a  notable  influ- 
ence upon  the  economic  development  of  the  Teutonic  king- 
doms that  established  themselves  during  the  invasions.  This 
persistence  of  Roman  influences  in  France  is  of  more  than 
local  significance.  Industry  and  commerce  affect  larger  areas 
than  the  localities  in  which  they  are  primarily  concentrated. 
At  the  least  one  must  include  the  entire  market  area  in  stud- 
ies of  their  influence,  and,  as  England  and  Germany  were 
partly  dependent  upon  France  for  the  sale  of  importance  of 
their  raw  products  and  for  some  of  the  manu-  France  in 
factured  articles,  the  industrial  development 
of  France  in  the  "dark  ages "  is  part  of  the  general  history  of 
Europe.  The  commercial  and  industrial  system  that  finally 
took  definite  form  in  the  medieval  period  was  an  outgrowth 
of  the  commercial  importance  of  Roman  Gaul. 

The  precise  extent  of  direct  Roman  influences  can 
scarcely  be  determined.  Flach  believes  that  many  of  the 
old  Roman  corporations  became  "  conf re*ries "  —  associa- 
tions of  craftsmen  for  the  common  celebration  of  religious  fes- 
tivals and  of  masses  for  the  souls  of  comrades.  Fagniez,  too, 


54  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

believes  that  some  survivals  of  the  Roman  organizations  may 
have  persisted  throughout  the  period  of  the  greatest  dis- 
orders, becoming  one  of  several  elements  in  the  growth  of 
the  newer  institutions  that  emerge  into  the  light  of  historical 
knowledge  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 

In  the  study  of  industrial  development  an  undue  share  of 
attention  has  been  given  to  the  administrative  organization 
of  craft- workers.  There  is  a  disposition  to  forget  that  the 
fact  of  primary  economic  significance  is  the  occupational 
specialization.  The  division  of  labor  into  the  crafts  must 
needs  precede  the  formation  of  administrative  bodies  based 
on  the  crafts.  It  is  therefore  not  merely  possible,  but  in- 
evitable, that  there  should  be  periods  in  which  handicrafts 
exist  as  specific  professions  despite  the  absence  of  corpora- 
tions of  the  Roman  type  or  gilds  of  the  medieval  type. 
There  is  no  clear  evidence  of  corporate  organization  of  the 
crafts  in  Greece,  neither  is  there  any  definite  indication  of 
craft  organization  in  the  interval  between  the  sixth  century 
A.D.  and  the  twelfth  century.  But  in  both  periods  there  was 
active  growth,  though  conditions  were  widely  different  in 
The  each  case.  A  certain  measure  of  superficial 

"  dark  ages "  decay  must  needs  have  followed  the  break-up  of 
the  Roman  Empire.  The  domination  of  Rome  had  forced  a 
premature  industrial  growth  that  could  not  be  maintained. 
In  Roman  Gaul,  for  instance,  there  were  eight  imperial  estab- 
lishments engaged  in  the  making  of  weapons.  The  artisans 
were  technically  free,  but  they  were  subject  to  a  definite  ob- 
ligation to  pursue  that  craft  under  the  given  conditions,  so 
that  they  enjoyed  only  a  much  qualified  freedom.  Their 
product  was  their  contribution  to  the  State.  With  the  pass- 
ing of  the  Empire  all  such  forced  industrial  effort  would  in- 
evitably pass  into  channels  more  in  accord  with  the  genuine 
needs  of  the  community.  The  flow  of  commerce  toward 
Rome  declined,  but  inasmuch  as  it  had  never  been  a  genu- 
ine reciprocal  trade,  it  was  hardly  a  retrograde  movement. 
Changes  occurred  in  the  industries  which  ministered  pri- 
marily to  the  wealthy  city  dwellers  of  the  Empire.  The 
overthrow  of  that  particular  group  of  parasites  naturally 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  55 

caused  some  decline  in  the  industries  which  ministered  to 
them.  Fewer  objects  of  luxury  were  made,  and  the  old 
refinements  of  execution  disappeared.  The  market  had 
changed.  Certain  arts  were  lost  or  neglected.  The  tran- 
sition from  the  restraints  and  compulsions  of  the  Roman 
system  to  the  freer  regime  of  the  middle  ages  involved  de- 
struction as  well  as  construction.  The  fundamental  special- 
izations of  occupations  seem  to  have  maintained  themselves. 

The  craftsmen  were  sheltered  during  the  period  of  greatest 
disorder  in  the  monasteries  and  on  the  great  rural  estates 
of  the  feudal  lords.    A  small  number  of  artisans  Persistence 
maintained  themselves  unattached,  but  they  ofcrafts 
must  have  been  exceptional,  like  the  small  freeholders  in  agri- 
culture.   There  were  such  freemen,  but  they  were  not  nu- 
merous nor  characteristic  of  the  age. 

On  the  great  estates  the  craft-workers  were  relatively  nu- 
merous, but  they  were  serfs.  They  were  nevertheless  better 
off  than  the  slaves  of  the  old  Roman  system.  They  could 
not  be  slain  with  impunity,  though  the  offense  of  murder 
was  punished  primarily  by  the  graduated  fines  common  to 
all  early  Teutonic  law.  The  wergilds  of  artisans  varied  ac- 
cording to  the  character  of  the.  craft.  For  the  murder  of 
a  goldsmith  one  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  sous,  while  the 
worker  in  iron  was  valued  at  fifty  sous.  A  carpenter  was 
appraised  at  forty  sous,  a  plain  laborer  or  swine-herd  at 
thirty  sous.  Some  of  the  industrial  work  on  the  domains 
was  done  by  the  artisans  in  their  cottages;  much,  however, 
was  done  in  general  workshops.  The  women  in  particular 
were  gathered  together  in  a  special  group  of  buildings  called 
the  "gyneceum."  These  were  similar  in  all  The 
respects  to  the  establishments  of  the  Grseco-  "«yneceum" 
Roman  world  for  the  utilization  of  the  women  on  the  great 
estates,  though  men  were  seldom  employed  in  them  by  the 
lords  of  the  early  Teutonic  kingdoms.  It  was  presumed 
that  the  gyneceum  would  be  managed  in  all  respects  by  the 
wife  of  the  lord,  but  there  are  references  to  laxity  of  man- 
agement. As  many  as  forty  women  were  employed  at  times, 
but  references  are  too  scanty  to  admit  of  statements  as  to  the 


56  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

characteristic  size  of  these  establishments.  The  work  con- 
sisted primarily  of  textile  manufacture;  weaving,  dyeing,  and 
the  making  of  garments.  These  were  used  by  the  house- 
hold in  part,  but  there  was  frequently,  if  not  usually,  some 
surplus  for  sale  in  the  market.  With  reference  to  men,  the 
domains  were  probably  significant  only  as  an  asylum  for  the 
metal-workers,  the  masons,  carpenters,  and  such  craftsmen. 
The  great  refuges  for  the  artisans  were  the  monasteries  and 
episcopal  establishments.  These  frequently  became  aggre- 
gations of  people  that  bore  all  outward  semblance  to  a  small 
town.  The  Abbey  of  Saint  Riquier  in  the  ninth  century 
Crafts  in  the  was  the  nucleus  of  twenty-five  hundred  houses, 
ninth  century  wm"cn  would  indicate  a  population  of  more  than 
ten  thousand  souls.  A  portion  of  the  settlement  was  given  over 
to  the  artisans,  who  were  grouped  in  streets.  The  enumera- 
tion includes:  wholesale  merchants,  smiths,  shield-makers, 
saddlers,  bakers,  shoemakers,  butchers,  fullers,  furriers,  wine 
merchants,  beer-sellers.  Each  of  these  crafts  was  obliged  to 
furnish  wares  to  the  Abbey,  but  it  was  a  group  obligation  and 
the  quantities  of  material  indicated  leave  it  fairly  certain 
that  the  artisans  could  dispose  freely  of  much  of  their  time. 
The  cartulary  of  Saint  Vincent  at  Le  Mans  mentions  artisans 
rather  more  frequently  than  other  cartularies,  so  that  the  list 
of  crafts  referred  to  in  the  eleventh  century  represents  per- 
haps the  higher  developments  of  handicraft  industry  around 
monastic  foundations.  The  following  crafts  are  mentioned: 
merchants,  carpenters,  weavers,  various  kinds  of  workers  in 
gold  and  silver,  tailors,  shoemakers,  butchers,  bakers,  wax- 
makers,  smiths,  drapers,  furriers,  linen  merchants,  leather 
merchants,  salt  merchants,  glass-setters.  It  is  noteworthy 
that  weavers  and  tailors  seldom  appear  in  the  earlier  enume- 
rations of  the  craftsmen  that  are  partially  free.  The  textile 
industries  were  largely  in  the  hands  of  women  in  the  earlier 
period,  as  is  shown  by  the  Polyptique  of  the  Abbey  of  Saint 
Germain  des  Pre"s  (close  of  the  eighth  century).  Linen  and 
serge  were  made  in  the  general  workshops  of  the  abbey  (the 
gyneceum)  and  in  the  cottages  of  the  serfs  whose  wives  were 
required  to  furnish  stipulated  quantities  of  cloth.  As  in  the 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  57 

classical  period,  the  textile  industries  were  slow  to  become 
established  as  specialized  occupations  for  men. 

It  may  be  noted  in  passing  that  the  classification  of  these 
monastic  and  feudal  establishments  presents  the  same  diffi- 
culties as  the  large  establishments  of  the  classical  period. 
They  are  a  part  of  a  patriarchal  household  or  of  a  feudal 
household,  but  it  is  misleading  to  classify  them  as  "household 
industries"  because  the  product  was  sold  in  distant  markets. 
Except  perhaps  for  small  differences  in  the  quantities  of  goods 
produced,  these  early  medieval  establishments  differed  in  no 
essential  respect  from  the  "factories"  based  on  slave  labor 
during  the  classical  period.  This  tendency  toward  the  ag- 
gregation of  unfree  industrial  workers  is,  however,  to  be  dis- 
tinguished from  any  tendencies  toward  the  aggregation  of 
free  workers.  The  motives  are  different.  Free  laborers  will 
be  brought  together  only  under  the  influence  of  some  con- 
sciousness of  economic  advantages  to  be  derived  from  the 
organization  of  the  work  in  hand.  The  aggregation  of  unfree 
laborers  is  more  largely  determined  by  the  servile  status  of  the 
laborer  than  by  profit-seeking.  With  rare  exceptions,  these 
groups  were  indeed  mere  aggregations  of  women;  no  real 
organization  of  work  was  achieved  by  bringing  them  together. 
They  worked  side  by  side  perhaps  in  a  large  room,  but  the 
work  could  doubtless  have  been  as  efficiently  done  in  the  cot- 
tages of  the  workers. 

We  know  less  of  the  free  craftsmen  of  the  eighth,  ninth,  and 
tenth  centuries  than  we  know  of  the  same  class  in  the  Grseco- 
Roman  period.  In  the  feudal  hierarchy  they  had  no  place, 
and  consequently  they  are  seldom  mentioned  in  the  scant 
records  of  the  period. 

II 

The  eleventh  century  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new  epoch 
in  the  development  of  industry:  distinguished  by  the  political 
emancipation  of  the  artisan  and  a  great  increase 

.     , ,      j  e  . .        ,  .   ,.      , .          ™       Rise  of  towns 

in  the  degree  of  occupational  specialization.  The 

rise  of  the  free  towns  is  the  political  expression  of  the  new 

status  acquired  by  the  commercial  and  industrial  classes. 


58  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Throughout  the  classical  period  and  in  the  centuries  imme- 
diately following  the  Teutonic  invasions,  industry  and  com- 
merce had  occupied  an  inferior  place  in  the  social  order. 
Persons  of  social  consequence  were  excluded  from  the  direct 
practice  of  such  occupations,  though  it  was  not  a  derogation 
of  their  caste  to  maintain  groups  of  servile  artisans  as  slaves 
or  serfs.  The  commercial  and  industrial  classes  were  more 
or  less  completely  deprived  of  legal  rights.  The  metic,  or 
stranger,  that  controlled  the  commercial  enterprise  of  the 
Greek  cities,  was  tolerated  and  allowed  some  privileges,  but 
he  was  definitely  excluded  from  citizenship.  The  foreigner 
at  Rome  enjoyed  a  larger  measure  of  legal  rights,  being  sub- 
ject to  a  legal  system  that  afforded  more  scope  for  individual 
initiative  than  the  laws  pertaining  to  citizens.  Finally,  in- 
deed, these  legal  differences  disappeared  at  Rome,  but  much 
of  the  old  prejudice  survived.  It  was  respectable  to  be  a 
great  landowner,  or  a  venial  official,  but  it  was  not  conceiv- 
able that  a  person  of  consequence  should  be  directly  engaged 
in  commerce  and  industry. 

The  rise  of  the  medieval  towns  composed  primarily  of 
merchants  and  artisans,  permanently  altered  the  social 
standing  of  these  groups.  They  too  became  a  distinct  caste. 
They  occupied  a  position  that  was  inferior  socially  to  that  of 
the  noble,  the  ecclesiastic,  or  the  public  officials,  but  they 
soon  became  economically  and  politically  of  coordinate  im- 
portance. In  the  complex  struggles  between  kings,  barons, 
The  Third  and  the  Church,  the  Third  Estate  occupied  a 
Estate  position  of  strategic  importance.  They  were 

courted  by  both  kings  and  nobles.  During  the  classical 
period,  this  class  was  politically  subordinate  to  the  landed 
aristocracy  resident  in  the  towns;  they  now  became  an  in- 
dependent political  factor.  The  urban  centers  became  a 
focus  of  industrial  and  commercial  interests.  Down  to  the 
Industrial  Revolution  the  structure  of  commercial  and  indus- 
trial life  was  dominated  by  the  institutions  that  took  form 
in  the  long  period  that  began  in  the  eleventh  century. 

This  period  of  urban  growth  was  one  of  especial  prosperity 
for  France;  some  writers  even  have  said  that  France  has  never 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  59 

been  more  prosperous  than  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century  when  the  new  order  had  become  defi-  Prosperity  of 
nitely  established.  The  figures  that  we  have  for  France 
the  population  of  France  lend  plausibility  to  this  view.  It 
is  estimated  that  there  were  about  twenty  or  twenty-two 
millions  of  people  living  within  the  territorial  limits  of  France 
as  they  stood  in  1914.  There  was  no  considerable  growth 
of  population  until  the  eighteenth  century;  the  vicissitudes 
of  pestilence  and  wars  prevented  any  consistent  increase. 
Paris,  according  to  an  enumeration  of  1292,  had  a  popula- 
tion of  slightly  more  than  200,000;  and  in  1328,  the  usual 
calculations  indicate  274,000.  Relatively  to  other  portions 
of  Europe  France  must  have  occupied  a  singularly  favorable 
position.  It  is  likely  that  she  enjoyed  a  degree  of  material 
prosperity  that  was  equaled  only  in  isolated  portions  of  Eu- 
rope. The  Low  Countries  and  parts  of  Italy  shared  hi  this 
material  development,  but  no  large  country  was  as  favorably 
situated.  The  advance  hi  economic  organization  can  thus 
be  most  advantageously  studied  in  France,  and  most  espe- 
cially in  Paris,  its  largest  city. 

It  is  a  piece  of  rare  good  fortune  that  we  have  a  fairly  ac- 
curate measure  of  the  growth  of  occupational  specialization 
during  the  period.  There  is  an  enumeration  of  the  occupa- 
tions pursued  at  Paris  during  the  latter  half  of  the  eleventh 
century  hi  the  Dictionary  of  Jean  Garlande.  To-  Records  of 
ward  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  we  have  CTaft  Ufe 
two  sources  of  information:  the  Book  of  the  Crafts,  a  record 
of  the  customs  of  the  crafts  made  at  the  instance  of  Etienne 
Boileau,  Provost  of  Paris,  1258-70;  and  the  tax-rolls  of  Paris, 
for  the  years  1292  and  1300,  which  give  the  occupations  of 
most  of  the  persons  enumerated.  All  these  records  are  less 
accurate  than  we  might  wish,  particularly  the  Dictionary  of 
Jean  Garlande,  but  the  combined  evidence  of  the  Book  of  the 
Crafts  and  the  tax-rolls  must  give  us  a  well-nigh  comprehen- 
sive survey  of  the  industrial  organization  for  that  period. 
Thirty-seven  occupations  are  described  by  Jean  Garlande, 
one  hundred  crafts  are  enumerated  in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts, 
and  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  industrial  and  commercial 


60  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

occupations  are  mentioned  in  the  tax-rolls  of  1292.  The 
tax-roll  mentions  all  occupations,  but  it  will  be  wise  to  con- 
fine our  attention  to  industrial  and  commercial  occupations, 
excluding,  for  instance,  porters,  boatmen,  public  officials,  and 
the  like.  Many  of  the  occupations  listed  occur  only  once 
or  twice,  so  that  the  number  of  important  occupations  is  not 
inconsistent  with  the  number  of  organized  crafts  enumerated 
in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts.  The  number  of  occupations  or- 
ganized as  crafts,  however,  must  have  been  somewhat  more 
than  one  hundred.  Occupations  with  less  than  ten  persons 
were  frequently  so  organized,  and  there  were  one  hundred 
and  thirty-four  occupations  listed  in  1292  as  having  more 
than  five  persons.  The  Book  of  the  Crafts  does  not  purport 
to  be  a  comprehensive  enumeration  of  crafts,  and  several  oc- 
cupations were  combined  in  one  craft  in  a  number  of  cases. 
A  number  of  occupations  listed  in  the  roll  of  1292,  but  not 
mentioned  in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts,  received  statutes  as  crafts 
early  in  the  following  century.  It  is  thus  certain  that  occu- 
pational specialization  proceeded  faster  than  the  develop- 
ment of  crafts  with  customs  or  statutes, 

In  any  study  of  medieval  crafts  it  is  necessary  to  include 

two  groups  of  occupations  which  stand  somewhat  outside 

the  industrial  field :  the  retail  and  wholesale  mer- 

The  tradesmen  . 

chants,  and  the  persons  engaged  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  foodstuffs.  Study  of  the  merchandizing  crafts  is  of 
especial  importance,  as  they  serve  as  a  measure  of  many 
changes  hi  the  market  that  would  otherwise  escape  our  at- 
tention. The  existence  of  such  crafts  emphasizes  the  impor- 
tance of  distant  markets,  and  in  the  presence  of  such  tangible 
evidence  of  elaborately  organized  trade,  it  is  difficult  to  un- 
derstand the  tenacity  with  which  many  writers  insist  upon 
the  mythical  direct  contact  between  the  medieval  craftsman 
and  the  consumer.  In  every  large  town  there  were  three 
crafts  and  groups  of  crafts;  those  occupied  with  purely 
town  life  local  concerns,  butchers,  bakers,  candle-makers, 

brewers,  and  the  like;  those  engaged  in  production  with 
reference  to  a  distant  as  well  as  the  local  market  —  the  va- 
rious textile  crafts,  the  leather  workers,  and  the  metal-work- 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  61 

ers  fall  within  this  group;  finally,  there  were  merchandising 
crafts,  a  few  definitely  concerned  with  the  wholesale  trade, 
mostly,  however,  engaged  in  retail  trade.  The  drapers  were 
wholesale  dealers  in  woolens;  the  mercers,  wholesale  dealers 
in  silks  and  wares  from  Italy;  the  spicers,  or  grocers  as  they 
came  to  be  called  later,  dealt  in  spices,  drugs,  oils,  and  other 
wares.  The  scope  of  the  trade  proper  to  these  three  great 
wholesale  crafts  was  constantly  enlarged,  but  the  original 
division  of  business  was  roughly  as  indicated  and  the  exten- 
sions of  later  years  were  a  natural  outcome  of  these  original 
lines  of  demarcation.  The  development  of  these  crafts  and 
of  their  powers  constitutes  an  important  chapter  in  commer- 
cial history. 

The  crafts  occupied  solely  with  local  needs  appear  almost 
everywhere,  and  usually  rose  to  positions  of  power  and 
affluence.  The  crafts  of  butchers  and  bakers  were  usually 
composed  of  wealthy  men,  and  in  many  towns  acquired  a 
significant  place  in  municipal  politics.  The  merchandising 
crafts  were  also  present  in  most  towns,  and  always  impor- 
tant. The  crafts  that  represented  the  export  industries 
varied,  of  course,  in  different  regions:  metal  Regional 
industries  were  most  highly  developed  in  Ger-  sPeciaUzation 
many,  Italy,  and  parts  of  Spain;  the  preparation  of  the  finer 
grades  of  leather  was  originally  a  specialty  of  the  Spanish 
towns,  but  these  processes  of  tanning  spread  northward 
rapidly  and  gained  a  strong  position  in  France;  the  woolen 
industry  was  the  predominant  export  industry  in  northern 
France,  the  Low  Countries,  and  later  in  England.  In  the 
woolen  industry  regional  specialization  was  carried  to  great 
lengths;  the  weavers  of  each  town  confined  their  attention 
to  a  single  type  of  cloth,  or  at  the  most  to  a  few  types. 
The  different  types  of  cloth  were  thus  designated  at  the  out- 
set by  the  name  of  the  town  in  which  they  were  made,  and 
these  names  persisted  long  after  the  diffusion  of  the  industry- 
had  spread  the  manufacture  to  other  towns  and  countries. 


62  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

THE  CRAFTS  OF  PARIS:  LATE  ELEVENTH  CENTURY 

After  the  Dictionary  of  Jean  Garlande 
Foods,  and  the  Preparation  of  Food: 
(a)  Raw  materials: 

(none) 

(6)  Intermediate  products: 
(none) 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Bakers,  pastry-cooks,  makers  of  meat-pies,  poultry-cooks. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Bakers  selling  their  own  product,  sellers  of  cakes  and 
wafers,  sellers  of  cakes  and  pastry,  sellers  of  fruit,  sellers  of 
wine. 

Leather: 

(a)  Raw  materials : 

Tanners,  furriers. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Lorimers  (makers  of  the  metal  fixtures  for  harness).  See 
below. 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Workers  in  cordovan  leather  (shoemakers),  glovers,  sad- 
dlers, shield-makers,  cobblers,  belt-makers. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Retailers  of  caps,  girths,  belts,  and  purses,  retailers  of 
shoes. 

Metals: 

(d)  Raw  materials: 

Blacksmiths,  goldsmiths. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Lorimers,  cutlers,  buckle-makers. 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Sword-grinders,  bell-founders,  goblet-menders,  broach- 
makers. 

(d)  Sellers  of  pins,  razors,  soap,  mirrors,  etc. 

Textiles: 

(d)  Raw  materials: 

(none) 

(6)  Intermediate  products: 
Weavers  (women). 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Dyers,  fullers,  cap-makers. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Drapers,  retailers  of  cloaks,  etc. 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  63 

In  the  list  of  crafts  given  by  Jean  Garlande  the  retailing 
crafts  and  crafts  occupied  with  local  needs  predominate. 
There  were  criers  of  wine,  of  cakes,  and  of  wafers;  persons 
who  circulated  in  the  streets  selling  their  wares  or  urging  the 
advantages  of  particular  wine-shops  upon  the  passers.  Most 
retailing,  however,  was  not  itinerant.  Selling  was  done  in' 
shops  or  stalls;  fruit,  cakes,  and  pastry  could  all  be  pur- 
chased hi  such  fashion,  as  also  a  variety  of  manufactured 
articles.  Pins,  soap,  mirrors  and  razors  were  the  specialty 
of  one  class  of  sellers;  cloaks,  undergarments,  caps,  girths, 
belts,  purses,  and  shoes  were  to  be  had  of  various  other  re- 
tailers. The  preparation  of  food  occupied  a  small  group  of 
crafts.  The  butchers  are  not  mentioned,  but  they  must  have 
existed  as  a  distinct  occupation,  as  we  have  references  to 
them  in  charters  of  the  following  century  which  speak  of 
them  as  having  been  long  hi  existence.  Some  writers  even 
believe  that  the  butchers  of  Paris  maintained  some  sort  of 
organization  throughout  the  period  between  the  fall  of  Rome 
and  the  twelfth  century. 

The  degree  of  specialization  in  the  leather,  textile,  and 
metal  industries  was  not  great.  There  is  little  reason  to 
suppose  that  any  leather  goods  found  their  way  Leather- 
out  of  Paris  at  this  time,  but  a  notable  import  workins 
trade  is  indicated.  The  tanners  prepared  only  the  coarser 
kinds  of  leather;  the  types  tanned  with  oak  bark,  grades  of 
leather  that  were  used  only  in  heavy  goods.  The  finer  grades 
of  oil-tanned  leathers  were  all  imported  at  this  time.  Origi- 
nating in  Spain  and  associated  with  Cordova,  these  leathers 
were  called  "corduan,"  and  the  workers  in  such  leathers  were 
thus  dubbed  "corduanniers,"  a  word  which  was  crudely 
reproduced  in  English  as  "cordwainer."  This  craft  later 
specialized  in  shoemaking,  but  at  this  time  the  Parisian 
workmen  made  all  types  of  fine  leather  goods.  It  is  inter- 
esting to  note  the  early  distinction  between  the  cobbler, 
who  repaired  shoes,  and  the  makers  of  new  shoes.  The 
metal-workers  were  chiefly  engaged  in  the  finishing  crafts, 
the  materials  being  imported  hi  an  advanced  stage  of  manu- 
facture. 


64 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


The  textile  crafts  enumerated  represent  primarily  the  fin- 
ishing processes.  Specialized  women  weavers  are  mentioned, 
but  it  is  fairly  certain  that  the  chief  textile 
crafts  were  concerned  with  fulling  and  dye- 
ing. The  drapers,  at  this  time,  can  hardly  have  been  occu- 
pied with  anything  but  their  proper  business  of  wholesaling. 
Inasmuch  as  cloth  became  later  the  most  important  indus- 
trial export  of  Paris,  this  tardy  development  of  weaving  as 
a  distinct  occupation  for  men  speaks  eloquently  of  the  slow 
growth  of  industry  up  to  the  eleventh  century.  The  impor- 
tance of  the  weavers  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century 
shows  how  great  a  change  took  place  in  the  intervening 
period. 

The  tax-rolls  of  1292  and  1300  enable  us  to  form  some 
opinion  of  the  relative  importance  of  the  various  occupa- 
tional groups.  The  striking  feature  of  the  figures  is  the  clear 
evidence  that  the  textile  and  clothing  group  had  only  re- 
cently become  coordinate  hi  importance  with  the  leather 
and  food  groups. 

NUMBERS  OF  PERSONS  EMPLOYED  IN  THE  VARIOUS  INDUSTRIAL  GROUPS 
PARIS,  1292  AND  1300 


Group 

Number  of 
persons,  1292 

Per  cent  of 
total 

Number  of  persons 
1300 

Foods  and  food  products  

956 

20  94 

(not  comparable) 

Leather  

933 

20.44 

1223 

Metals  

606 

13.27 

729 

Textiles  

251 

632 

Clothing  

667 

811 

Together  

918 

20.11 

1243 

Wood  

340 

7  45 

289 

Building  trades  

194 

4.25 

225 

Ecclesiastical  ornaments  

77 

1  69 

83 

541 

11.85 

(not  comparable) 

4565 

100.00 

CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE 


65 


The  increase  in  the  numbers  of  persons  reported  in  the 
leather  and  textile  trades  in  1300  is  partly  due  to  the  differ- 
ence in  the  character  of  the  taxes  imposed.  The  taxes  of 
1300  fell  upon  the  poorest  artisans  to  a  greater  extent  than 
did  the  taxes  of  1292.  The  lists  are  thus  somewhat  short 
of  being  comprehensive;  conclusions  must  thus  be  subject 
to  qualification,  but  it  would  seem  likely  that  there  had  been 
some  change  in  the  occupational  groupings.  The  period  was 
one  of  rapid  growth  in  the  population  of  Paris;  at  least  such 
is  the  conclusion  reached  by  students  of  population,  but 
then1  computations  being  based  upon  these  tax-rolls  must  be 
subject  to  the  same  elements  of  error  as  our  industrial  sta- 
tistics. 

CLASSIFICATION  OF  OCCUPATIONS  ACCORDING  TO  SIZE:  TAX-ROLLS  OP 
1292  AND  1300 


Less  than  5 

persons 

5-9 

10-19 

20-39 

40-59 

60-99 

100-199 

200  or 
over 

1292 

91 

40 

34 

31 

11 

11 

5 

2 

1300 

224 

35 

31 

30 

8 

7 

8 

4 

In  1292,  225  occupations  were  enumerated;  in  1300,  348; 
the  difference  is  largely  due  to  the  inclusion  in  the  lists  of 
1300  of  a  large  number  of  occupations  practiced  by  one,  two, 
or  three  persons.  The  most  notable  change  occurs  among 
the  weavers  of  whom  82  were  enumerated  in  1292  and  360  in 
1300.  The  increase  was  greatest  in  the  textile  and  leather 
groups,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  there  is  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  there  was  some  actual  growth  even  in  so  short  a 
period. 

The  classification  of  the  crafts  according  to  groups  and 
stages  of  production  is  perhaps  more  interesting  than  statis- 
tics of  numbers.  The  elaborate  division  of  labor  Analysis  of 
that  existed  can  be  shown  in  no  other  way,  and  tte  Ust  of  CTafte 
the  notion  of  the  craftsman  as  maker  of  a  finished  product 
is  so  widespread  that  emphasis  upon  the  disintegration  of 
the  process  of  production  is  highly  desirable.  Marx  appre- 


66  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ciated  the  importance  of  this  tendency  toward  a  disintegra- 
tion of  the  industrial  processes  into  their  essential  stages, 
but  he  does  not  seem  to  have  realized  how  early  the  change 
took  place.  One  must,  of  course,  recognize  that  the  develop- 
ment of  occupational  specialization  in  Paris  was  greater  than 
in  the  smaller  towns,  but  when  all  allowance  has  been  made 
for  the  diversities  of  chronology  hi  different  places,  it  would 
seem  that  one  were  justified  in  saying  that  the  beginning 
of  the  great  economic  development  that  was  associated  with 
the  growth  of  the  towns  was  most  significantly  marked  by  a 
notable  increase  in  the  process  of  industrial  disintegration. 

OCCUPATIONS  AT  PARIS  IN  1300 

Foods,  foodstuffs,  and  by-products: 
(a)  Raw  materials: 

Sellers  of  wheat,  measurers  of  grain,  sellers  of  flour,  sellers 
of  oats,  of  hay,  of  forage-stuff. 

Butchers,  skinners,  measurers  of  wine. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Millers,  oven-tenders,  tripe-sellers. 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Bakers  (bread),  bakers  of  various  kinds  of  fancy  cakes 
(oubliers,  fouagiers,  gastelliers),  pudding-makers. 

Brewers,  cooks,  poultry-cooks,  fried-food  sellers,  sauce- 
makers,  candle-makers,  soap-makers. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Bakers  selling  their  own  product,  regraters  of  bread  and 
other  foods,  innkeepers  (two  kinds,  ostelliers,  taverniers), 
wholesalers  of  wine. 

Sellers  of  garlic,  of  salt,  of  spices,  of  herbs,  of  fruit,  of  mus- 
tard, of  milk,  of  cheese,  of  oil,  of  fish,  of  herring. 

Leather  and  articles  made  of  leather: 
(a)  Raw  materials: 

Tanners  in  oil,  tanners  in  bark,  tanners  of  sheepskins, 
parchment-makers,  furriers. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Leather  painters.    (See  also  the  lorimers  and  nail-makers 
under  the  metal  trades,  and  the  saddle-bow-makers  under 
wood.) 
(c)  Finished  products: 

Saddlers,  harness-makers,  two  kinds  of  shoemakers  (cor- 
duanniers  —  high-grade  shoes;  savetonniers  —  cheap  shoes), 
cobblers,  glove-makers,  belt-makers,  purse-makers. 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  67 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

None  dealing  exclusively  in  leather  goods. 
Metals: 

(a)  Raw  materials  and  heavy  work: 

Horse-shoers,  blacksmiths,  silversmiths,  goldsmiths,  tin- 
smiths, coppersmiths,  refiners  of  gold  and  silver,  gold-thread- 
makers,  gold-beaters,  workers  in  hammered  copper  and  tin. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Makers  of  plain  nails,  makers  of  fancy  nails,  bolt-makers, 
button-makers,  iron-buckle-makers,  brass-buckle-makers, 
ring-makers,  lorimers. 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Cutlers,  makers  of  knife-handles,  shears-makers,  orna- 
menters  of  swords,  scabbard-makers,  chain-makers,  fancy- 
chain-makers,  fish-hook-makers,  pin-makers,  locksmiths, 
spur-makers. 

(d)  Persons  rendering  services  directly  to  the  consumer: 

Grinders  of  knives,  grinders  and  mounters  of  swords. 

(e)  Makers  of  weapons  and  armor: 

Makers  of  bows,  arrows,  and  cross-bows,  arrow-makers, 
armorers  (both  of  men  and  horses),  makers  of  two  kinds  of 
cuirass,  bf  chain  mail,  of  metal  plates,  shield-makers  (linen, 
leather,  copper),  helmet-makers. 

Textiles : 
(d)  Sellers  of  raw  materials: 

Wool  merchants,  hemp  merchants,  flax  merchants. 
(6)  Preparation  of  raw  materials: 

Wool-combing  and  spinning  (mentioned  in  two  or  three 
places),  spinners  of  silk  (two  kinds,  a  grands  fuseaux,  a  petits 
fuseaux). 

(c)  Intermediate  products: 

Weavers  of  woolens,  of  linen,  of  canvas,  of  tapestry  (two 
kinds,  tapis  sarrasinois,  tapis  nostrez),  weavers  of  silk  rib- 
bons, weavers  of  silk  kerchiefs. 

(d)  Finishing  processes : 

Dyers,  calenderers,  fullers,  shearmen. 

(e)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Drapers  (sellers  of  both  domestic  and  imported  cloth), 
sellers  of  imported  canvas,  mercers  (sellers  of  silks). 

Clothing  and  garment-making: 

(d)  Raw  materials  (other  than  textiles) : 

Sellers  of  felt,  of  plumes. 
(6)  Intermediate  products: 

Sewers  (male  and  female),  lace-makers. 


68  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

(c)  Finished  products: 

Tailors,  breeches-makers,  trousers-makers,  eleven  different 
kinds  of  headdress-makers,  each  a  distinct  occupation. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Friperers  (dealers  in  second-hand  clothes),  mercers. 

Wood  and  manufactures  of  wood: 
(a)  Dealers  in  un wrought  wood : 

Sellers  of  firewood,  sellers  of  charcoal. 
(6)  General  wood-workers: 
Carpenters,  turners. 

(c)  Makers  of  specialties : 

Coopers  (two  kinds  —  of  barrels  with  wooden  hoops,  of 
barrels  with  iron  hoops),  wagon-makers,  wheel-  and  plough- 
wrights,  makers  of  writing-tables,  trunk-makers,  makers  of 
jewel-caskets,  makers  of  croquet-mallets,  makers  of  altars. 

(d)  Merchandising  crafts: 

Sellers  of  wooden  vessels. 

Building  trades: 

Markers  of  stones  for  cutting,  cutters  of  stone,  mortar- 
men  (mortelliers),  masons,  plasterers,  slaters,  tilers,  tile- 
makers. 

Ecclesiastical-ornament  makers: 

Chasuble  makers,  sculptors  of  images,  painters  of  images, 
bead-makers  (several  kinds  are  distinguished). 

Personal  service  and  miscellaneous: 

Barbers,  bath-house  keepers,  launderers  (men  and  women), 
surgeon  doctors  (men  and  women),  fencing-masters,  money- 
changers, brokers. 

Bushel-basket-makers,  basket-makers,  ash  merchants, 
straw-sellers,  wax-workers,  lute-makers,  cut-glass  workers, 
glaziers,  potters  (clay,  copper,  and  tin,  each  a  special  group), 
dice-makers. 

Lantern-makers  (horn),  dealers  in  horn,  comb-makers. 

Jewelers,  makers  of  drinking-cup  de  luxe  (usually  of  agate). 

Illuminators  of  manuscripts,  scriveners  (copyists),  book- 
binders, book-sellers. 

The  relation  of  these  highly  specialized  crafts  to  each  other 
varied  in  the  different  occupational  groups;  in  some  cases  the 
Craftsmen  and  product  really  passed  through  the  hands  of  the 
consumers  whole  group  of  crafts;  in  some  cases  the  special- 
ization was  associated  with  household  work.  In  the  group  of 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  69 

crafts  concerned  with  wheat  and  wheat  products,  we  find  re- 
tail wheat-sellers,  flour-sellers,  millers,  oven-tenders,  and  bak- 
ers of  various  types  of  things.  But  the  wheat  merchant  did 
not  sell  crude  wheat  to  the  millers,  nor  did  the  millers  sell 
exclusively  to  flour  merchants;  least  of  all  did  the  bakers  buy 
of  wheat  merchants  or  depend  upon  peddlers  and  retailers  to 
sell  their  bread.  The  bakers  of  bread  bought  crude  wheat  in 
the  neighborhood  and  had  it  ground  on  their  account.  They 
baked  and  sold  their  own  product.  The  poorest  classes  were 
largely  dependent  upon  the  bakers  for  their  supply  of  bread, 
but  only  the  poorest  people  bought  bread.  Those  who  were 
better  off  bought  wheat  or  flour.  If  wheat  were  bought  they 
must  needs  have  it  ground  at  their  expense;  there  was  more 
waiting;  some  considerable  stock  had  to  be  kept  on  hand. 
These  different  crafts  thus  dealt  with  families  of  various  de- 
grees of  wealth.  The  establishments  of  the  nobility  and  the 
Church  were  usually  supplied  with  grain  and  provisions 
directly  from  their  estates,  without  recourse  to  the  markets 
of  Paris  or  the  neighboring  towns.  Within  the  households  of 
the  magnates,  however,  the  division  of  labor  was  quite  as 
elaborate  as  in  the  community  at  large,  except  for  the  mer- 
chandising functions.  The  variety  of  fine  pastry-cooks  listed 
reflects  the  desire  of  citizens  of  easy  circumstances  to  have 
some  of  the  good  things  enjoyed  by  the  wealthy.  The  bour- 
geois who  could  hardly  buy  bread  without  some  loss  of  caste 
could  properly  enough  buy  fruit  pasties  and  fancy  cakes. 
There  were  thus  many  degrees  of  directness  of  connection 
between  production  and  consumption.  The  very  poor  were 
served  by  the  relatively  indirect  processes  of  food  production, 
the  very  rich  were  maintained  almost  directly  by  the  service 
of  their  establishment. 

The  dependence  of  the  wealthy  upon  the  labor  of  free 
artisans  is  most  conspicuous  in  other  occupational  groups. 
In  leather,  metals,  textiles,  and  clothing  much 
craft-work  was  dominated  by  the  desires  of  the 
wealthy.     Saddles  and  harness  were  elaborately  tooled  and 
adorned.    There  were  two  distinct  grades  of  shoes,  and  the 
better  grades  made  from  cordovan  leather  furnished  employ- 


70  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ment  for  the  larger  number  of  workmen.  Gloves,  belts,  and 
purses  were  for  the  most  part  articles  of  luxury.  Among  the 
metal-workers,  the  goldsmiths  were  one  of  the  most  important 
crafts,  and  there  were  several  other  crafts  that  specialized  in 
objects  of  luxury.  The  most  striking  single  illustration  of 
specialization  in  the  production  of  luxuries  is  the  presence  of 
eleven  different  crafts  concerned  with  the  making  of  head- 
dresses. There  were  two  main  groups,  hats  or  caps,  and 
kerchiefs. 

Nearly  all  of  the  finished  leather  and  textile  products 
passed  successively  through  the  stages  of  production  sug- 
increased  gested  by  the  occupational  divisions.  The 
specialization  change  that  took  place  hi  these  branches  of  man- 
ufacture between  the  eleventh  century  and  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century  is  notable.  In  the  eleventh  century  most 
leather  was  imported;  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century, 
nearly  all  kinds  were  produced  locally,  though  it  is  hardly  to 
be  presumed  that  the  entire  demand  was  supplied  by  the 
local  production.  Saddlers  and  harness-makers  were  par- 
tially dependent  also  upon  the  products  of  wood-  and  metal- 
workers. Saddle-bows  were  made  by  a  separate  craft,  and 
the  metal  parts  of  saddles  and  bridles  were  made  by  the 
wealthy  craft  of  lorimers.  Both  of  these  products  involved 
three  stages  of  production,  and  in  the  thirteenth  century 
the  consumer  rarely  came  in  contact  with  all  the  craft-work- 
ers concerned. 

The  inferences  that  can  be  drawn  from  materials  in  the 
Book  of  the  Crafts  indicate  that  leather  was  purchased  out- 
Saddiers  and  right  from  the  tanners  and  curriers  by  the  crafts 
lorimers  engaged  in  subsequent  processes  of  production, 

but  the  saddlers  seem  to  have  had  saddle-bows  made  for 
them  by  hired  craftsmen,  and  the  lorimers  frequently  em- 
ployed leather-workers  to  set  their  bits  and  finishings  in  the 
harness.  The  harness-makers  objected  to  this,  but  it  was 
doubtless  a  persistent  feature  of  the  industry.  Thus,  in  one 
case  the  craft  concerned  with  finishing  the  product  under- 
took supervision  of  some  of  the  intermediate  stages,  and  in 
the  other,  craftsmen  concerned  with  an  intermediate  product 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  71 

had  the  finishing  done  for  them.  The  lorimers  sold  some 
finished  products  and  some  intermediate  products.  The 
complexities  of  medieval  industrial  conditions  were  due  to 
the  variety  of  ways  in  which  this  slight  measure  of  general 
supervision  could  be  maintained.  The  degree  of  disintegra- 
tion suggested  by  the  specialization  of  occupations  was  never 
an  established  fact.  Some  craftsmen  hired  out  to  members 
of  other  crafts,  but  without  the  close  and  permanent  con- 
tracts that  would  create  the  relations  that  we  associate  with 
the  terms  " employer"  and  "employee."  It  was  wage-work, 
but  wage-work  for  a  producer.  The  distinction  may  not 
seem  very  significant,  but  it  is  really  of  moment  in  any  study 
of  the  development  of  the  wage-earning  class.  At  this  time 
there  were  wage-earners,  but  no  class  of  wage-earners:  none 
were  permanently  or  exclusively  wage-earners;  there  were 
alternatives  of  employment  that  do  not  exist  when  the 
distinctions  between  employer  and  employee  are  sharply 
drawn. 

One  entire  occupational  group,  the  oven-tenders,  includ- 
ing ninety-four  names  on  the  roll  of  1292,  must  have  been 
employed  by  various  kinds  of  bakers,  and  though 

t  v    J  --L-  i~  Wage-earners 

they  may  have  had  opportunities  to  become 
bakers  themselves,  there  is  no  clear  reference  that  would  war- 
rant such  an  assumption.  In  the  textile  trades,  the  fullers 
and  shearmen  were  primarily  employed  by  other  craftsmen. 
They  were  sometimes  employed  by  weavers,  sometimes  by 
dyers,  conditions  in  the  woolen  industry  at  Paris  at  this 
time  were  highly  unstable.  Some  weavers  had  acquired  con- 
siderable means  and  occupied  themselves  wholly  with  the 
giving-out  of  work  to  fullers,  shearmen,  and  dyers.  Much 
dyeing  was  done  on  their  own  premises,  too,  despite  the  pro- 
tests of  the  dyers,  whose  only  consolation  was  the  conces- 
sion of  exclusive  right  to  dye  with  woad  for  the  various 
blues.  The  drapers,  originally  cloth  merchants,  also  began  to 
concern  themselves  with  manufacture,  giving  out  work  to 
weavers  and  others.  There  was  thus  some 

.  .          ,         .         Capitalists 

small  degree  of  integration  in  this  as  in  other  in- 
dustries.   It  is  an  indication  that  the  beginnings  of  capital- 


72  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

istic  control  reach  far  back  into  the  past,  to  a  period  that  is 
not  usually  thought  of  as  capitalistic  in  any  sense.  But  if 
the  term  is  used  with  minute  discrimination,  the  high  degree 
of  disintegration  is  in  itself  an  indication  that  the  fundamen- 
tal conditions  of  capitalistic  industry  were  present.  The  scale 
of  business  enterprise  was  small,  so  that  the  problems  of  cap- 
italistic control  were  not  conspicuous,  perhaps  not  even  rec- 
ognizable, if  one  insists  upon  associating  the  notion  of 
capital  with  the  scale  of  production  that  is  dominant  to- 
day. From  the  standpoint  of  analysis,  however,  it  is  wise 
to  distinguish  differences  in  kind  from  differences  in  degree. 
Capitalistic  control  had  appeared  in  Paris  by  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  though  to  a  slight  and  uncertain  extent. 
The  outlines  of  a  putting-out  system  can  be  seen  in  a  number 
of  industries,  though  without  the  definiteness  of  subordina- 
tion of  the  various  crafts  that  characterizes  the  putting-out 
system  as  it  existed  at  the  eve  of  the  Industrial  Revolution. 

Ill 

Apart  from  the  casual  assistance  rendered  by  wife  and 
daughters,  the  master  craftsman  had  assistants  of  two  classes; 
journeymen  apprentices,  young  men  or  boys  learning  the 
and  apprentices  trade;  journeymen,  young  men  who  had  com- 
pleted their  apprenticeship,  but  for  one  reason  or  another 
had  not  yet  become  established  masters.  These  distinctions, 
based  primarily  upon  the  degree  of  maturity  and  training  of 
the  workman,  must  be  very  old;  and  although  these  subordi- 
nate classes  of  persons  were  ultimately  affected  by  the  corpo- 
rate privileges  acquired  by  the  master  craftsmen,  it  would  be 
an  error  to  suppose  that  these  lower  ranks  of  workmen  were 
in  any  sense  created  by  the  statutes  of  the  crafts.  These 
subordinate  positions  in  the  industrial  world  were  a  natural 
and  inevitable  outcome  of  the  fundamental  conditions  of 
handicraft  industry.  Work  was  done  almost  entirely  in  the 
house  of  the  master:  shops,  such  as  they  were,  being  hardly 
more  than  a  room  or  other  portion  of  the  dwelling  given  over 
exclusively  to  craft- work.  In  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
craft  knowledge  was  transmitted  from  father  to  son,  and, 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  73 

unless  some  special  arrangement  were  made,  craft  knowledge 
could  scarcely  be  secured  in  any  other  way.  The  narrow 
hereditary  succession,  however,  was  not  followed  very  strictly 
during  the  middle  ages.  There  was  a  deal  of  free  choice  of 
occupation,  and  there  are  suggestions  that  somewhat  similar 
conditions  prevailed  during  the  classical  period  among  free 
artisans. 

When  a  boy  desired  to  take  up  a  craft  other  than  that  of 
his  father,  it  could  be  arranged  after  the  manner  of  an  adop- 
tion. In  becoming  an  apprentice  the  boy  ac-  status  of 
quired  by  necessity  many  of  the  elements  of  the  the  aPPrentice 
status  of  the  man's  son:  the  contract  of  apprenticeship  was 
in  fact  an  instrument  which  provided  for  a  qualified  adoption 
—  adoption  for  a  period  of  years.  The  long  periods  of  ap- 
prenticeship and  the  early  age  at  which  boys  were  appren- 
ticed reflect  this  aspect  of  the  arrangement.  The  boy  was 
turned  over  to  the  master  at  twelve  years,  or  the  like,  and 
was  expected  to  serve  him  faithfully  for  the  prescribed  in- 
terval. The  master  was  under  obligation  to  supply  all  his 
wants,  and  to  teach  him  the  craft.  It  was  presumed  that  the 
master  would  get  enough  work  out  of  the  boy  to  afford  him 
reasonable  compensation  for  his  pains,  and  all  too  frequently 
the  apprentices  were  a  lucrative  source  of  cheap  labor.  It 
is  very  difficult  to  determine  the  actual  scale  of  industrial 
enterprise  during  the  middle  ages,  because  the  apprentice 
was  a  notable  source  of  gain,  if  he  was  used  definitely  as  a 
helper  instead  of  being  taught  the  craft.  Many  masters 
secured  considerable  numbers  of  apprentices  and  estab- 
lished shops  which  Would  perhaps  bear  comparison  with  the 
"factories"  of  the  classical  period.  The  attempts  to  limit 
the  number  of  apprentices,  that  are  notable  in  the  gild  stat- 
utes, were  in  part  due  to  some  desire  to  protect  the  apprentice. 
If  there  were  many,  none  of  them  were  likely  to  learn  much. 
The  maintenance  of  a  small  scale  of  production  was  thus  at 
once  a  measure  of  protection  to  the  small  masters,  to  the 
apprentices,  and  to  the  standards  of  workmanship.  The 
master  had  authority  to  apply  corporal  punishment.  Many 
contracts  of  apprenticeship,  also,  make  special  mention  of 


74  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  master's  wife,  bringing  out  the  sense  in  which  the  appren- 
tice was  received  into  the  family. 

The  position  of  the  journeyman  undergoes  many  changes 
in  the  course  of  gild  development.  In  the  early  period  there 
journeymen  was  no  artificial  barrier  to  prevent  the  journey- 
and  masters  man  from  becoming  a  master.  His  position 
differed  from  that  of  a  master  primarily  in  two  respects :  he 
had  little  money  and  no  home.  These  two  qualifications, 
money  and  a  home,  were  essential  to  the  position  of  a  mas- 
ter, and  of  the  two  the  latter  was  the  more  important.  The 
master  must  needs  have  a  wife  and  a  home  because  both 
journeymen  and  apprentices  must  needs  have  board  and  lodg- 
ing provided.  Besides,  there  must  be  some  place  for  a  shop. 
The  household  was  the  industrial  unit,  and  for  that  reason, 
if  for  no  other,  the  unmarried  workman  was  inevitably 
obliged  to  attach  himself  to  some  established  household  until 
such  tune  as  marriage  opened  the  way  to  having  an  estab- 
lishment of  his  own.  In  this  earlier  period  the  journeyman 
had  every  reasonable  expectation  of  becoming  a  master. 
The  wages  he  received  above  his  bed  and  board  would  usually 
enable  him  to  marry  and  set  up  shop  in  a  couple  of  years.  If 
he  had  money  and  could  marry  sooner  there  was  nothing  to 
prevent  him  from  becoming  a  master. 

In  all  these  statements  it  has  been  assumed  that  the  craft 
consisted  primarily  of  men.  There  were  several  crafts  in 
women  in  Paris  that  were  composed  almost  entirely  of 
industry  women.  This  was  unusual,  however,  and  be- 

came even  less  usual  later.  When  women  were  admitted  to 
membership  in  a  craft  their  position  differed  in  no  respect 
from  that  of  the  men.  Widows  frequently  carried  on  their 
husbands'  business,  and  a  small  number  of  women  were  to 
be  found  on  the  rolls  of  the  crafts  at  all  times.  This  occa- 
sional presence  of  women  does  not  constitute  a  special  prob- 
lem. 

All  the  fundamental  aspects  of  craft  industry  emerged  in 
France  before  the  members  of  the  craft  ac- 

Origins  of  gilds 

quired  the  privileges  that  made  them  gilds.  The 
gild  was  a  political  and  administrative  organization  of  the 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  75 

craft.  The  discussion  of  the  origins  of  the  craft  gilds  is 
obscured  by  the  ambiguity  of  the  term  and  the  persistent 
tendency  of  many  writers  to  minimize  the  importance  of  the 
unorganized  groups  of  craft- workers  which  were  notably 
developed  in  the  early  period  hi  the  French  towns  and  re- 
mained a  significant  feature  of  life  in  the  provinces  until 
a  very  late  period.  For  a  variety  of  reasons  the  free  craft 
(metier  libre)  was  more  significant  in  France  than  in  Ger- 
many or  England,  and  as  France  was  if  anything  the  leading 
industrial  country  of  the  medieval  period,  it  is  perhaps  justi- 
fiable to  stress  these  divergences  of  national  history.  The 
relative  importance  of  free  and  chartered  crafts  is  obviously 
of  moment  in  any  discussions  of  origins,  and  it  must  be 
clear  that  the  origin  of  the  chartered  craft,  or  gild,  presents 
a  historical  problem  that  differs  hi  many  respects  from  the 
problems  connected  with  the  rise  of  the  free  crafts.  There 
can  be  little  serious  question  of  Roman  or  primitive  Teutonic 
elements  in  the  statutes  and  charters  of  the  privileged  gilds 
that  begin  to  appear  in  the  twelfth  century.  The  charters 
or  statutes  were  granted  by  authorities  that  had  no  connec- 
tions with  the  remote  past,  and  their  purposes  were  so  ob- 
viously spontaneous  that  no  distant  origins  can  be  signi- 
ficantly called  in  question.  If,  on  the  other  hand,  attention 
is  concentrated  on  the  craft  groups,  which  certainly  per- 
sisted throughout  the  period  of  the  invasions,  one  must  needs 
hesitate  before  denying  the  possible  significance  of  Roman 
survivals  or  of  Teutonic  fraternal  organizations. 

The  free  craft  was  a  voluntary  association  of  individual 
craftsmen,  without  legal  authority  of  any  kind.  The  hier- 
archy of  masters,  journeymen,  and  apprentices  „ 

•   uV       •  4.     j.1.  •   u/u  -J        ui     u    J      The  free  craft 

might  exist :  there  might  be  a  considerable  body 
of  customs  and  usages.  But  the  officers  of  the  free  craft,  if 
there  were  any,  had  no  authority  to  enforce  the  customs  of 
the  craft.  Such  institutions  must  needs  have  been  a  spon- 
taneous growth.  No  single,  mechanical  account  of  their 
origin  can  be  adequate,  but  it  is  part  of  the  spontaneity  of 
growth  that  many  elements  of  the  past  should  be  incorpo- 
rated hi  the  new  order,  though  given  different  meanings  hi 


76  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  new  combination.  Such  organizations  doubtless  rep- 
resent the  fusion  of  many  elements.  One  must  anticipate 
likewise  many  diversities  of  form  and  divergent  purposes. 
The  early  history  of  craft  organization  is  thus  dominated  by 
tendencies  toward  spontaneous  Variation  rather  than  by  def- 
initeness  of  form,  though  the  forms  which  ultimately  de- 
velop become  even  excessively  rigid  and  fixed.  It  is  for  this 
reason  unsatisfactory  to  take  refuge  in  the  easy  solution  of 
perplexities  by  refusing  to  consider  anything  but  gild  char- 
ters and  statutes.  The  purposes  that  underlie  these  char- 
ters can  be  understood  only  in  terms  of  the  vague  voluntary 
organization  that  preceded  them. 

The  history  of  Paris  affords  special  opportunities  for  ob- 
serving the  transition  from  the  free  craft  to  the  privileged 
Acquisition  of  craft  with  statutes.  The  Book  of  the  Crafts, 
privileges  made  at  the  instance  of  Etienne  Boileau,  the 
Provost  of  Paris,  is  not  a  collection  of  statutes;  it  was  de- 
signed to  be  no  more  than  a  record  of  customs,  though  the 
process  of  record-making  did  in  most  cases  give  a  somewhat 
different  significance  to  the  usages  recorded.  The  prepara- 
tion of  the  record  is  in  itself  evidence  of  consciousness  of  the 
need  of  some  change.  The  authority  to  enforce  regulations 
was  vested  in  the  Provost  of  Paris,  an  official  whose  juris- 
diction included  both  civil  and  criminal  offenses.  The  Book 
was  designed  to  facilitate  the  regulation  of  the  crafts,  and  it 
was  to  this  end  that  the  members  of  each  craft  were  called  to 
the  town  hall  and  required  to  state  the  customs  of  their  craft. 
In  the  course  of  proceedings  provision  was  made  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  wardens  in  a  number  of  crafts  in  which  no 
wardens  had  previously  existed.  Such  officers  were  charged 
with  the  enforcement  of  the  rules  of  the  craft,  and  the  emer- 
gence of  a  group  of  sworn  wardens  is  the  most  indicative  evi- 
dence of  the  transition  from  the  vague  organization  of  the 
free  craft  to  the  more  strictly  ordered  gild  or  sworn  craft 
The  swom  (metier  j ur£) .  The  wardens  were  charged  with 
CTaft  the  exercise  of  a  portion  of  the  authority  of  the 

Provost;  service  was  an  obligation  that  was  in  a  measure 
burdensome  to  the  individuals  named,  but  the  right  to  elect 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  77 

wardens  was  a  privilege  that  might  mean  much  to  a  craft,  as 
it  practically  transferred  to  the  members  of  the  craft  as  a 
body  the  administrative  authority  of  the  Provost.  Certain 
monopolistic  features  were  inevitably  associated  with  this 
autonomy  of  administration,  so  that  the  attempt  to  use  mem- 
bers of  the  craft  as  assistants  in  the  administration  of  craft 
rules  led  gradually  to  the  creation  of  privileged  bodies  with 
appreciable  grants  of  administrative  power. 

The  entire  process  of  development  is  suggested  by  the 
diversity  of  conditions  that  is  recorded  in  the  Book  of  the 
Crafts.  In  the  case  of  twenty-five  crafts  no  „ 

,J  .  ,  J  T  Wardens 

reference  is  made  to  wardens.  In  some  cases 
reference  is  made  to  "prud-hommes"  and,  as  the  term  is 
used  both  in  a  general  sense  and  in  the  technical  sense  of 
"warden,"  these  references  may  be  to  wardens  whose  ap- 
pointment or  election  was  so  well  established  by  custom 
that  no  detailed  reference  was  made.  The  majority  of  crafts 
in  this  group  of  twenty-five,  however,  were  very  small,  accord- 
ing to  the  numbers  given  in  the  tax-roll  of  1292.  There  were 
eight  master  wire-drawers  enumerated  in  the  tax-roll,  divided 
into  two  crafts,  drawers  of  iron  wire  and  drawers  of  brass 
wire.  When  called  before  the  Provost  to  state  their  customs, 
the  drawers  of  brass  wire  petitioned  to  be  exempted  from 
the  burden  of  having  wardens.  There  were  few  masters  and 
they  were  all  very  poor.  It  was  suggested  that  the  Provost 
have  all  the  masters  swear  to  observe  the  customs  of  the 
craft.  In  a  few  cases  there  were  important  crafts  that  had 
no  wardens,  but  it  would  seem  unwise  to  draw  such  cases  in 
question.  Our  information  may  be  defective,  or  there  may 
have  been  some  special  reason  that  made  it  advisable  for  the 
Provost  to  supervise  the  craft  directly. 

In  most  cases  the  technical  character  of  the  regulations 
made  it  essential  for  the  Provost  to  utilize  the  craft  knowl- 
edge of  the  masters.    Thus  the  more  consider-  choice  of 
able  crafts  all  have  wardens:  in  twenty-nine  wardens 
crafts,  appointed  at  the  pleasure  of  the  Provost;  in  two  or 
three  cases,  appointed  by  the  Provost,  with  the  approval  of 
the  craft;  in  seventeen  crafts,  freely  elected  by  the  craft. 


78  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

There  is  no  evident  basis  for  the  discrimination  between  the 
crafts.  On  the  whole,  the  older  and  more  important  crafts 
were  allowed  to  elect  their  wardens,  but  there  were  excep- 
tions. The  brewers,  the  regraters  of  bread,  the  dyers,  and 
the  sword-grinders  were  all  old  crafts  of  some  considerable 
importance,  but  they  had  appointed  wardens.  Apparently 
there  was  not  a  little  caprice  manifested  in  the  grants  of 
privilege,  as  in  the  enforcement  of  many  general  regulations. 
Keeping  the  city  watch  was  a  general  obligation,  which  crafts- 
men must  needs  share  with  other  citizens,  but  a  number  of 
crafts  were  entirely  exempt,  and  the  number  of  excuses  that 
might  be  given  varied  considerably  among  the  crafts.  The 
fiscal  obligations  of  the  crafts  varied  capriciously.  The 
medieval  administrator  had  no  conception  of  uniformity  of 
rule,  nor  any  consciousness  that  administration  of  justice 
without  respect  of  persons  was  either  desirable  or  attainable. 
There  were  few  privileges  that  might  not  be  had  for  a  con- 
sideration, and  craft  privileges  were  at  various  periods  a  lu- 
crative source  of  revenue  to  the  Government.  There  is  little 
reason,  however,  to  suppose  that  there  was  much  downright 
buying  of  privileges  in  Paris  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century. 

Conditions  among  the  crafts  noted  above  represent  the  sig- 
nificance of  political  and  administrative  factors  in  the  trans- 
Feudal  formation  of  free  crafts  into  privileged  gilds, 
influences  There  is,  however,  a  group  of  crafts  closely  as- 
sociated with  the  royal  household  which  developed  under 
notably  different  conditions.  Eberstadt,  E.  Bourgeois,  and 
some  other  writers  have  been  moved  by  these  and  similar  cir- 
cumstances in  some  other  towns  to  call  attention  to  the  im- 
portance of  the  feudal  background.  Eberstadt,  who  has  be- 
come most  closely  associated  with  this  theory,  unfortunately 
writes  with  little  caution  and  tends  to  overstate  his  case. 
Bourgeois  is  more  careful,  and  presents  the  so-called  feudal 
view  of  the  origin  of  crafts  in  its  most  acceptable  form. 

The  large  establishments  of  the  great  lords  sheltered  many 
craftsmen  and  became  the  scene  of  further  specialization  of 
occupations  at  a  fairly  early  date.  The  service  of  the  kitchen 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  79 

was  elaborately  organized  for  reasons  that  are  obvious. 
The  establishment  required  much  craft  service  The  crafts 
of  smiths,  garment-makers,  shoemakers,  masons,  of  the  feudal 
and  builders.     The  crafts  which  were  earliest 
to  emerge,  and  many  that  persisted  through  the  period  of 
disorder,  found  shelter  in  the  households  of  feudal  lords.  Both 
at  Paris  and  at  Blois  there  is  clear  evidence  that  the  develop- 
ment of  a  number  of  crafts  was  profoundly  in-  The  royal 
fluenced  by  the  presence  of  the  royal  household.  household 
The  situation  is  no  doubt  exceptional  in  some  respects,  but 
it  is  at  least  indicative  of  the  variety  of  administrative  ar- 
rangements that  makes  it  so  difficult  to  generalize  about  any 
aspect  of  medieval  law  or  custom.    The  former  dependence 
of  these  crafts  upon  the  royal  household  survived  in  two 
respects;  there  was  an  obligation  to  pay  special  fees  to  the 
King,  or  to  some  persons  designated  by  the  King,  and  there 
was  more  or  less  complete  subjection  to  the  supervisory 
authority  of  some  official  of  the  royal  household. 

The  King's  marshal  had  complete  jurisdiction  over  the 
many  iron-working  crafts  that  developed  out  of  the  plain 
forge  work;  blacksmiths,  hook-  and  hasp-makers,  helmet- 
makers,  gimlet-makers,  edge-tool-makers,  locksmiths  and 
cutlers  were  all  obliged  to  purchase  of  the  Marshal  the  right 
to  exercise  the  craft.  After  the  general  admission  fee  had 
been  paid  there  was  a  special  fee  to  be  paid  for  the  right  to 
work  at  home,  and  another  fee  for  the  right  to  work  away 
from  home.  The  King's  Marshal  appointed  six  wardens  to 
enforce  the  customs  of  these  crafts.  Any  infringements  were 
punished  by  fines  which  were  paid  to  the  Marshal.  In  case 
of  refusal  to  obey  the  orders  of  the  Marshal,  the  offender 
might  be  forbidden  to  exercise  his  craft,  and  in  case  of  per- 
sistence in  disobedience  the  Marshal  might  tear  down  the 
offender's  forge.  The  cutlers  and  locksmiths  were  obliged  to 
pay  fees  to  the  Marshal  for  the  right  to  exercise  their  craft, 
but  they  were  under  the  general  authority  of  the  Provost  of 
Paris.  The  bakers  were  subject  to  the  authority  of  the  Chief 
Bread-Maker  (Grand  Panne" tier),  though  they  had  the  right 
to  elect  twelve  wardens  and  seem  to  have  enjoyed  some 


80  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

measure  of  autonomy.  The  King's  Cook  had  jurisdiction 
over  the  freshwater  fishermen.  A  special  group  of  fisher- 
men, however,  were  subject  to  the  discretion  of  one  Guerin 
Dubois,  "  to  whose  ancestors  Philip  the  King  gave  this  right." 
The  said  Dubois  sold  the  right  to  fish  in  the  waters  described 
for  such  prices  as  he  chose.  The  old-clothes  merchants  were 
subject  to  the  discretion  of  the  Maitre  Chambrier,  who  seems 
to  have  been  Chief  Groom  of  the  Bedchamber.  Leather- 
workers,  both  shoemakers  and  saddlers,  were  under  the 
authority  of  the  King's  Chamberlain,  though  the  proceeds 
collected  from  the  sale  of  permits  to  exercise  the  craft  were 
divided  between  the  Chamberlain  and  the  Count  of  Eu.  The 
revenue  from  a  group  of  five  other  leather-working  crafts 
went  to  a  private  individual  "who  had  been  given  the  crafts" 
by  the  King.  Masons  and  plasterers  were  supervised  by  the 
Master  Mason  who  was  appointed  by  the  King  to  hold  office 
during  pleasure.  The  masons  were  not  obliged  to  pay  any 
fees,  but  they  enjoyed  no  autonomy. 

The  wood-working  crafts,  at  the  time  of  Etienne  Boileau, 

were  under  the  authority  of  the  King's  Master  Carpenter. 

In    1313  general  complaints   prepared  by  the 

The  carpenters  .  ^  * 

craftsmen  against  the  Master  Carpenter  re- 
sulted in  a  hearing  at  the  Parlement  (court  of  administra- 
tive and  civil  law)  and  in  the  suppression  of  the  office.  The 
authority  over  the  crafts  passed  naturally  to  the  Provost 
of  Paris  and  in  the  course  of  the  century  several  of  the  wood- 
working crafts  received  statutes.  The  general  craft  of  car- 
pentry, confined  at  last  to  a  much-narrowed  scope  of  work 
by  the  process  of  subdivision,  finally  received  statutes  toward 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  incident  is  signifi- 
cant because  it  illustrates  all  stages  of  the  process  of  tran- 
sition from  a  craft  sheltered  and  dominated  by  the  royal 
household  to  a  craft  with  privileges  which  made  it  largely 
autonomous. 

Although  the  craft  gilds  of  the  later  middle  ages  came  to 
have  a  fairly  definite  form,  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  this  was  in  any  respect  an  indication  or  an  outcome  of 
a  common  origin.  The  gild  privileges  developed  in  many 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  81 

ways.  Such  generality  of  form  as  came  to  exist  was  prima- 
rily due  to  the  pressure  of  the  economic  needs  of  Diversities 
an  industrial  and  commercial  life  that  presented  of  §#<* 
many  fundamental  elements  of  similarity  despite 
the  diversities  of  political  forms  in  national  and  municipal 
life.  There  was  a  tendency  to  make  similar  regulations,  and 
the  attainment  of  common  ends  led  to  the  creation  of  devices 
which  were  similar  in  general  outline.  The  technical  proc- 
esses were  largely  similar,  the  conditions  of  merchandising 
were  substantially  the  same  in  all  countries.  The  larger 
outlines  of  craft  life  were  thus  common  to  the  crafts  of  all 
the  larger  European  cities,  and,  as  our  knowledge  is  fre- 
quently incomplete,  we  tend  to  see  only  these  general  fea- 
tures. Close  contact  with  the  problems  of  medieval  indus- 
try will  usually  force  upon  one's  attention  the  persistent 
variety  of  medieval  arrangements;  much  of  this  diversity  is 
no  doubt  mere  difference  in  detail,  but  there  is  sufficient 
variation  to  make  one  cautious  of  generalization. 

The  character  of  craft  life  is  depicted  with  some  clearness 
of  outline  in  the  statutes  and  customs  of  the  crafts,  though 
the  picture  is  in  many  respects  more  nearly  akin  to  a  pho- 
tographic negative  than  to  the  finished  print,  ideal  and 
Many  aspirations  are  expressed  in  these  docu-  act1"1  craft  life 
ments  which  show  by  sheer  dint  of  repetition  that  the  inten- 
tion was  not  wholly  realized.  Masters  kept  more  apprentices 
than  they  should.  Shoddy  and  fraudulent  work  were  common 
at  all  tunes  and  in  all  towns.  It  was  difficult  to  confine  the 
various  crafts  to  the  tasks  and  work  which  properly  speaking 
belonged  to  them.  One  is  inclined  to  believe  that  the  idyllic 
pictures  of  medieval  industrial  life  are  based  on  reading  craft 
statutes  and  customs  as  literal  records  of  what  was  done.  It 
is  necessary  to  remember  that  we  are  dealing  with  a  period 
whose  profession  of  faith  was  eloquent,  though  its  practice 
of  virtue  was  qualified  by  all  too  human  weakness. 

Craft  statutes  are  concerned  with  three  kinds  of  matters: 
definitions  of  the  civil  obligations  of  the  mem-  content  of 
bers,  definitions  of  the  status  of  the  different  craft  statutes 
classes  of  workers,  and  regulations  of  a  technical  industrial 


82  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

character.  The  civil  obligations  of  members  of  a  craft  in- 
volved various  matters  of  fees:  fees  due  the  King  or  munici- 
pality with  reference  to  the  exercise  of  the  craft;  fees  con- 
nected with  the  sale  of  the  manufactured  wares  or  the 
purchase  of  raw  materials.  The  keeping  of  the  city  watch 
was  likewise  the  subject  of  many  clauses,  especially  the  matter 
of  excuses.  Some  crafts  were  entirely  exempted,  but  in  all 
cases  certain  excuses  were  a  valid  means  of  escape  from  duty 
on  any  particular  night.  The  old-clothes  merchants  recited 
a  long  list  of  proper  excuses,  when  they  came  before  Boileau: 
age,  the  condition  of  the  wife,  their  annual  bleeding,  or  ab- 
sence from  the  city  of  which  notice  had  been  given.  They 
went  on  to  say  that  the  wardens  ought  to  accept  excuses 
when  sent  in  by  a  neighbor  or  journeyman,  but  they  required 
all  excuses  to  be  delivered  by  the  wife  in  person  "whether 
bea-utiful  or  homely,  young  or  old,  strong  or  weak.  And  it  is 
wholly  shameful  and  improper  for  a  woman  to  come  and  wait 
around  at  the  Chatelet  until  the  hour  of  guard  mount,  requir- 
ing her  return  home  through  the  streets  of  a  city  like  Paris, 
with  her  son  or  daughter,  or  perhaps  with  no  escort  at  all." 
The  definition  of  the  status  of  the  different  members  of  the 
craft  included,  in  general,  statement  of  the  conditions  of 
Development  apprenticeship,  the  mutual  obligations  of  ap- 
of  states*101  prentices  and  master,  the  rights  and  duties  of 
apprentices  journeymen,  and  the  qualifications  required  of 
masters.  Regulations  of  this  class  became  very  detailed  in 
the  late  period  in  all  countries.  In  early  statutes  or  customs 
there  are  few  regulations.  The  general  tenor  of  the  regula- 
tions of  apprenticeship  in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts  seems  to  favor 
the  apprentice.  The  restrictions  seem  designed  to  insure 
honest  instruction  in  the  craft.  To  this  end  it  is  provided 
that  no  new  master  shall  take  an  apprentice  during  the  first 
year;  that  the  widow  of  a  deceased  master  shall  take  no  ap- 
prentice, though  she  may  continue  to  exercise  the  craft.  The 
restrictions  on  numbers  are  expressly  declared  to  be  de- 
signed to  insure  good  teaching,  as  a  master  could  not  give  any 
significant  attention  to  many  apprentices.  The  weavers  re- 
quired that  proposals  for  apprenticeship  be  submitted  to  the 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  83 

wardens,  who  might  refuse  to  allow  the  contract  to  be  con- 
cluded, if  in  their  judgment  the  master  was  not  capable  of 
discharging  all  his  obligations.  The  minimum  duration  of 
apprenticeship  was  usually  fixed  at  six  years,  though  as  many 
as  eleven  years  were  required  in  some  crafts.  In  a  few  crafts 
only  three  years  were  required.  The  statutes  of  the  gold- 
smiths provided  that  apprenticeship  should  end  when  the  in- 
dividual was  capable  of  earning  one  hundred  sous  per  year 
in  excess  of  his  board,  but  this  is  an  isolated  case.  Fagniez 
says  that,  to  his  knowledge,  it  is  the  only  case  in  which 
the  length  of  the  period  of  apprenticeship  was  dependent 
upon  the  proficiency  of  the  apprentice.  One  must  remem- 
ber that,  for  the  most  part,  sons  of  masters  were  not  re- 
quired to  comply  with  the  provisions  of  apprenticeship.  The 
regulations  applied  in  their  rigor  only  to  persons  not  born  to 
the  craft. 

The  status  of  the  journeyman  at  the  close  of  the  thirteenth 
century  was  not  rigidly  defined.  The  constant  references 
in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts  to  the  direct  promotion  , 

Journeymen 

of  apprentices  to  the  grade  of  master  show  that 
the  transitory  status  of  journeyman  was  not  universally  ob- 
served. Even  in  the  later  period,  sons  of  masters  could  dis- 
pense with  the  term  of  service  as  journeymen,  and,  at  this 
tune,  the  practice  seems  to  have  been  general.  Lack  of  funds 
must  have  been  the  chief  factor  in  forcing  workmen  to  serve  a 
term  as  journeymen.  The  journeyman  was  not  supposed  to 
hire  himself  out  to  any  but  masters  of  the  craft,  and  it  was  ir- 
regular for  him  to  work  on  his  own  account.  When  he  lived 
with  the  master  it  would  be  obviously  difficult  for  him  to  work 
outside  the  shop  without  detection,  but  when  he  found  his  own 
lodgings  many  opportunities  for  independent  work  presented 
themselves,  especially  when  there  was  much  wage-work  in 
the  craft  that  could  be  done  on  the  premises  of  the  customer. 
The  obligation  to  work  for  a  master  thus  constituted  the  most 
distinctive  feature  of  the  status  of  the  journeyman.  Fre- 
quently, the  journeyman  was  not  supposed  to  participate  in 
any  way  in  the  sale  of  wares  at  the  weekly  market,  but  that 
restriction  was  not  universal. 


84  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  conditions  of  becoming  a  master  at  the  tune  of  fitienne 
Boileau  were  hedged  about  with  few  formalities.  Most  of 
the  customs  say  that  any  one  may  become  a 
master  "  who  knows  the  craft  and  has  the  where- 
withal." The  requirement  of  adequate  means  to  support 
the  obligations  of  the  master  was  perhaps  more  rigidly  en- 
forced than  at  a  later  date.  The  hose-makers  reported  that 
thirty-five  of  their  number  had  fallen  into  poverty  and  be- 
come journeymen.  It  may  be  that  the  statement  merely 
means  that  they  had  been  obliged  to  hire  themselves  out  to 
other  masters  of  the  craft,  and  so  were  working  as  if  they  were 
journeymen.  One  must  needs  assume  that  they  went  into 
the  shops  of  other  masters,  not  even  having  the  means  to  do 
work  at  their  own  homes.  Later,  the  terms  "master"  and 
"journeyman"  implied  a  definite  status.  The  master  could 
not  cease  to  be  a  master,  even  if  he  became  poor.  Doubtless, 
at  this  early  period  the  terms  were  hardly  more  than  descrip- 
tive phrases.  There  is  no  evidence  of  any  formal  ceremony 
of  admission  to  the  grade  of  master.  The  special  test  of 
craft  skill,  the  masterpiece,  is  mentioned  only  once  in  the 
Book  of  the  Crafts,  and  in  that  single  case  in  no  technical 
connection.  Apparently  the  masters  were  examined  or  made 
to  swear  that  they  knew  the  craft,  and  of  the  two  modes  of 
inquiry  the  latter  seems  to  have  been  the  more  common. 
This  would  not  have  led  to  the  admission  of  unskilled  workers. 
The  elaboration  of  the  later  requirements  for  the  mastership 
was  not  necessary  from  the  point  of  view  of  testing  craft 
skill.  The  attempt  to  limit  the  number  of  craft- workers  by 
complicated  conditions  of  admission  to  mastership  was  one 
of  the  most  arbitrary  of  the  various  monopolistic  practices 
of  which  the  privileged  crafts  were  guilty.  In  the  crafts 
that  still  remained  subject  to  direct  royal  authority,  certain 
fees  had  to  be  paid,  and  all  masters  were  frequently  required 
to  swear  that  they  would  observe  the  statutes  of  the  craft. 

The  oldest  portion  of  the  customs  of  the  crafts  is  that  con- 
Unfair  cerned  with  the  regulations  of  the  technical  proc- 

competition        esseg  of  fae  craft  an(j  itg  reiation  to  other  crafts. 

The  first  objects  of  these  regulations  were  to  prevent  care- 


CRAFT  GILDS  IN  MEDIEVAL  FRANCE  85 

less  workmanship  and  unfair  competition.  In  the  crafts 
whose  market  was  purely  local  bad  workmanship  injured  the 
consumer,  and  at  times  injured  the  honest  workmen  by  en- 
abling then-  unscrupulous  neighbor  to  undersell  them  with 
inferior  goods.  Frauds  in  manufacture  were  more  serious  hi 
the  crafts  which  were  devoted  to  the  export  trade,  because  all 
the  goods  were  marked  with  the  name  of  the  town  and  sold 
as  such.  The  goods  of  individual  masters  were  only  in- 
completely distinguished  at  best.  A  number  of  dishonest 
masters  could  thus  injure  the  trade  of  the  town  as  a  whole, 
and  there  was  a  disheartening  amount  of  dishonesty.  The 
inspection  of  goods  with  which  the  wardens  were  charged 
was  therefore  a  matter  of  great  importance.  The  craft  stat- 
utes endeavored  to  create  standards  of  manufacture.  The 
raw  materials  that  shouldbeused  were  definitely  stated .  The 
use  of  inferior  materials  was  prohibited.  In  crafts  which  re- 
quired close  attention  to  the  work,  night  work  was  forbidden. 

With  the  increase  of  occupational  specialization  the  de- 
limitation of  the  activities  proper  to  each  craft  became  im- 
portant. The  cobblers  were  thus  prohibited  Delimitation 
from  making  new  shoes.  Dyers  were  not  al-  ofcrafts 
lowed  to  do  any  fulling,  and  it  was  only  as  a  concession  that 
the  woolen  weavers  were  allowed  to  dye  in  other  colors  than 
blue.  The  old-clothes  dealers  were  allowed  to  mend  old  gar- 
ments, but  were  not  supposed  to  compete  with  the  tailors 
in  the  making  of  new  garments.  Specialization  had  been 
carried  far  enough  by  the  close  of  the  thirteenth  century  to 
require  some  of  these  niceties  in  the  delimitation  of  spheres 
of  activity,  but  this  type  of  difficulty  became  much  more 
pronounced  later. 

There  are  some  traces  of  an  element  of  communism.  Mas- 
ters were  at  tunes  required  to  share  advantageous  purchases 
with  each  other.  Such  regulations,  however,  were  rare. 

In  the  records  of  the  customs  of  particular  crafts  there  is 
much  caprice.  The  early  records  are  particularly  erratic 
and  incomplete.  Much  of  this  lack  of  system  in  the  writing- 
down  of  customs  was  due  no  doubt  to  the  casual  manner  hi 
which  most  of  these  records  were  made.  Usually  some  spe- 


86  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

cific  occasion  required  the  making  of  the  record,  and,  as  is 
natural,  the  matters  of  moment  with  reference  to  the  current 
events  exercised  an  undue  influence  on  the  character  of  the 
record.  The  caprice  of  external  events,  too,  exerted  a  great 
influence  upon  the  date  at  which  privileges  were  granted  to 
crafts.  Many  aspects  of  craft  life  and  craft  development, 
therefore,  admit  of  no  satisfactory  explanation.  Forms  of  or- 
ganization were  seldom  rigidly  denned,  and  the  growth  is 
systematic  only  in  a  very  general  sense. 


CHAPTER  IV 
THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700 


OUB  knowledge  of  population  during  the  middle  ages  is 
incomplete  and  unsatisfactory.  There  were  no  comprehen- 
sive enumerations  of  population  for  any  entire  Early 
country  until  the  beginnings  of  census  work  to-  enumerations 
ward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  In  particular  towns 
and  in  some  provinces  enumerations  were  made  at  various 
times,  and  in  France  a  comprehensive  enumeration  was  at- 
tempted toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  but 
these  enterprises  were  not  carried  out  with  much  statistical 
precision,  so  that  the  results  are  hardly  superior  to  the  esti- 
mates obtained  by  other  means.  Estimates  of  population  are 
based  on  two  types  of  material:  enumerations  of  families, 
property-holders,  or  adults  for  purposes  of  taxation;  and  the 
registers  of  births,  marriages,  and  deaths.  Both  of  these 
sources  are  subject  to  errors  of  omission  and  to  errors  hi  esti- 
mating the  proportion  of  the  enumerated  population  to  the 
total  number  of  persons.  The  proportions  of  families,  adults 
over  fourteen,  marriages,  births,  and  deaths  to  the  total 
population  are  all  constants  within  a  small  margin  of  uncer- 
tainty, but  the  range  of  possible  variation  is  sufficient  to  exert 
a  significant  influence  upon  results.  If  the  families  in  a  rural 
community  are  comprehensively  enumerated,  the  popula- 
tion could  nowadays  be  estimated  at  about  four  and  one 
half  tunes  the  number  of  families,  but  it  is  not  entirely  safe 
to  assume  that  this  proportion  would  be  true  of  a  medieval 
population.  The  ecclesiastics  were  then  more  numerous  and 
would  not  be  represented  in  the  count  of  families.  It  is  also 
more  than  possible  that  more  servants  were  kept  than  at  the 
present  time.  The  most  serious  element  of  difficulty,  how- 
ever, is  the  likelihood  of  omissions.  The  lists  available  for  the 
earlier  medieval  period  are  tax-lists,  so  that  there  would  be 


88  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

motives  enough  for  omissions  of  many  kinds.  The  very  poor 
were  frequently  omitted  entirely  because  the  tax  would  not 
fall  upon  them  directly.  Some  of  the  well-to-do  were  fre- 
quently able  to  keep  their  names  off  the  rolls,  or  were  for  some 
reason  exempt.  It  is  not  possible  to  secure  any  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  absolute  numbers  of  the  population. 

For  the  more  general  purposes  of  the  economist  it  is  suf- 
ficient to  secure  some  conception  of  the  relative  changes  in 
The  main  the  mass  and  density  of  population.  It  is  impor- 
issue  tan£  to  know  whether  there  was  a  steady  growth 

throughout  the  period  or  mere  fluctuations  attributable  to 
the  vicissitudes  of  war  and  disease.  Our  experience  of  the 
growth  of  population  during  the  nineteenth  century  has 
made  us  prone  to  assume  that  a  progressive  increase  of  pop- 
ulation is  the  normal  condition  of  a  European  country,  but  it 
is  not  at  all  clear  that  Europe  has  differed  as  widely  from 
Eastern  countries  as  is  frequently  supposed,  and  there  seems 
reason  to  believe  that  the  movement  of  population  hi  Eng- 
land presents  a  marked  contrast  to  the  general  changes  of 
population  on  the  continent  of  Europe  during  the  period. 
In  England  there  seems  to  have  been  more  of  a  steady 
growth  of  population;  in  France,  population  has  fluctuated, 
tending  to  approximate  what  we  may  call  the  normal  den- 
sity for  the  country,  though  frequently  below  that  figure  be- 
cause of  various  calamities.  These  at  least  are  the  conclu- 
sions that  may  be  drawn  from  the  figures  presented  in 
Tables  I  and  II,  and  there  is  no  ground  for  supposing  that 
there  is  sufficient  error  in  the  figures  to  impair  the  validity 
of  the  general  conclusion. 

It  will  be  observed  that  the  population  of  France  reached 
a  mean  density  of  about  one  hundred  persons  to  the  square 
mile  early  in  the  fourteenth  century.  Pestilence  and  wars 
reduced  the  population,  but  it  tended  to  recover.  The  figures 
for  1581  are  not  very  satisfactory,  but  those  for  1700  and 
1715  suggest  pretty  clearly  that  such  decrease  of  population 
as  occurred  during  the  period  following  1328  can  legitimately 
be  ascribed  to  calamities.  The  decrease  between  1700  and 
1715  is  known  to  be  due  to  the  dearth  of  1709-10  and  the 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700       89 

TABLE  I 

THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1801 
Total  number  of  persons  and  mean  density  per  square  mile 

Date  Total  persons        Mean  density 

1086 1,800,000  35.38 

1327 2,225,000  43 .73 

1377 2,500,000  49.14 

1570 3,882,000  76.31 

1600 4,460,000  87.67 

1630 5,225,000  102.70 

1670 5,395,000  106.00 

1700 5,653,000  111.10 

1750 6,066,000  119.20 

1801 8,331,000  163.70 

TABLE  II 
THE  POPULATION  OF  FRANCE  TO  1789 

Total  number  of  persons  and  mean  density  per  square  mile  (the  boundaries 

of  1871-1914  are  assumed) 

Date                                                                 Total  Persons  Mean  density 

Prior  to  Roman  conquest 6,700,000  32 .35 

Ninth  century 5,500,000  26.55 

1328 22,000,000  106.20 

1581 20,000,000  96.60 

1700 21,136,000  102 .00 

1715 18,000,000  86.90 

1770 24,500,000  116.00 

1789 26,000,000  125.00 

losses  in  the  military  campaigns  of  the  period.  A  popula- 
tion of  about  one  hundred  persons  to  the  square 
mile  would  represent  the  normal  possibilities  of 
adequate  maintenance  in  view  of  the  agricultural  technique 
of  the  period.  Assuming  the  crops  and  methods  of  culture 
characteristic  of  the  middle  ages,  a  population  of  that  degree 
of  density  could  provide  for  its  essential  needs  without  rely- 
ing upon  any  systematic  importation  of  grain  or  other  foods. 
Knowing  as  we  do  that  few  regions  of  Europe  were  regularly 
importing  food,  this  assumption  is  wholly  in  accord  with 
medieval  conditions.  Industrial  development  was  prima- 
rily dependent  upon  agricultural  resources.  Industry  flour- 
ished upon  the  basis  afforded  by  a  local  agricultural  surplus, 


90  !  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

and  was  thus  definitely  subordinate  in  importance  to  agri- 
culture. When  the  Industrial  Revolution  introduced  changes 
in  technique  which  made  it  possible  to  develop  great  concen- 
tration of  population  in  the  proximity  of  mineral  deposits, 
densities  of  population  greater  than  one  hundred  per  square 
mile  began  to  appear  in  notable  sections  of  England  and 
Europe.  Until  the  Industrial  Revolution  this  figure  of  one 
hundred  persons  to  the  square  mile  represents  about  the 
normal  density  for  Europe.  The  Low  Countries  were  per- 
haps an  exception  to  this  statement,  as  they  received  appre- 
ciable quantities  of  grain  from  the  Baltic  countries. 

The  figures  for  the  mean  density  of  population  in  England 
show  that  the  agricultural  resources  of  England  were  not 
Medieval  fully  utilized  until  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
England  under-  that  England  was  relatively  under-populated 
until  the  eve  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The 
continuity  of  growth  of  population  in  England  is  thus  due 
to  this  emergence  of  significantly  new  factors  in  economic 
development  when  the  limits  possible  under  the  old  technique 
had  been  reached.  The  beginning  of  dependence  upon  the 
importation  of  grain  shortly  after  1750  affords  striking  con- 
firmation of  the  substantial  accuracy  of  the  estimates  of  nor- 
mal density.  Some  improvement  was  taking  place  in  agri- 
cultural technique,  but  even  such  added  possibilities  did  not 
make  it  possible  to  maintain  a  population  of  much  more  than 
one  hundred  to  the  square  mile.  France  remained  substan- 
tially self-sufficing  in  the  production  of  food,  and  the  mean 
density  of  population  shows  no  increase  such  as  took  place  in 
England.  The  increase  of  population  in  France  could  be 
explained  by  the  remarkable  improvements  in  the  technique 
of  agriculture. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  this  conception  of  normal 
density  is  purely  relative;  a  fact  emphatically  suggested  by 
Normal  comparison  between  Europe  and  the  Orient, 

densities  in  especially  rice-producing  countries.  Statistics 
are  available  for  British  India,  and,  though  there 
are  many  elements  of  uncertainty,  it  is  fairly  clear  that  the 
great  density  of  population  in  the  most  fertile  provinces,  six 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND :  1086-1700       91 

hundred  to  the  square  mile,  is  not  to  be  attributed  solely  or 
even  primarily  to  a  low  standard  of  living.  Good  arable  land 
constitutes  a  some  what  larger  proportion  of  the  total  area  than 
is  usual  in  Europe,  and  this  is  of  course  of  importance.  The 
great  factor  in  the  high  density  of  population,  however,  is  the 
dependence  upon  rice.  Rice  responds  more  significantly  than 
wheat  to  intensive  culture.  Wheat  yields  between  530  and 
1800  pounds  per  acre,  according  to  the  cultural  system :  rice 
yields  between  820  and  4500  pounds  per  acre.  The  food 
value  of  rice  is  perhaps  slightly  lower  than  that  of  wheat, 
but  a  rice-growing  region  can  nevertheless  maintain  a  greater 
density  of  population  than  a  wheat-growing  region.  The  pro- 
portion is  indicated  roughly  by  the  quantity  of  land  that  can 
be  effectively  cultivated  by  one  man  and  his  Peasant 
team.  In  medieval  Europe  it  was  assumed  that  holdin8s 
a  peasant  cultivator  needed  about  thirty  acres  for  independ- 
ent maintenance  of  himself  and  his  family.  In  British  In- 
dia, in  the  province  of  Bengal,  between  five  and  ten  acres  are 
sufficient  to  occupy  the  peasant  and  his  family,  not  in  mar- 
ket-gardening, but  in  staple  agriculture.  The  specialized 
agriculture  now  practiced  hi  Europe  makes  it  difficult  to  in- 
stitute comparisons  with  modern  conditions,  but  Europe  has 
become  so  dependent  upon  the  importation  of  food  that  her 
own  agricultural  resources  are  no  longer  a  measure  of  the 
density  of  her  population.  Under  the  influence  of  the  In- 
dustrial Revolution  the  factors  determining  the  growth  of 
population  have  become  so  complex  that  it  is  scarcely  pos- 
sible to  assign  any  precise  limits  to  the  density  of  population 
that  may  be  achieved  even  in  large  areas. 

The  figures  upon  which  the  estimates  of  population  are 
based  are  rather  more  satisfactory  for  England  than  for 
France.     The  English  figures  are  hi  each  case  based  upon 
some  approximately  comprehensive  enumeration.     The  fig- 
ures for  France  are  based  on  enumerations,  but  Deficiencie8 
none  of  them  are  as  comprehensive  as  those  of  the  French 
available  for  England.  The  estimates  for  1328  in 
France  are  probably  the  most  reliable  figures  we  have  for  that 
country  until  the  enumerations  of  the  "Intendants"  in  1700. 


92  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

This  is  particularly  fortunate,  as  it  is  rather  more  impor- 
tant to  know  the  population  at  periods  of  greatest  prosperity 
than  in  periods  of  distress.  An  enumeration  of  hearths  was 
made  in  1328  with  reference  to  the  levy  of  an  armed  force; 
the  figures  are  comprehensive  for  the  royal  domains  and 
thus  include  a  large  portion  of  the  kingdom,  but  the  popula- 
tion of  the  estates  of  the  nobility  must  be  assumed  to  have 
been  proportionate.  As  the  lands  of  the  royal  domain  were 
fairly  well  scattered  throughout  the  kingdom  there  can  be 
little  objection  to  projecting  these  figures  into  the  non-enu- 
merated portions  of  France.  The  chief  difficulty  is  to  deter- 
mine the  probable  proportion  between  hearths  and  the  total 
population;  the  very  conservative  writers  multiply  by  four, 
others  by  four  and  one  half  or  five,  according  to  their  temper. 
French  material  is  so  largely  based  on  the  number  of  hearths 
or  families  that  we  have  no  definite  means  of  testing  prob- 
able proportions  by  different  types  of  enumeration,  as  is  pos- 
sible in  England.  The  figures  for  France  prior  to  1328  are 
highly  speculative,  and  the  estimate  for  1581  is  an  expression 
of  opinion  rather  than  a  statistical  result,  but  the  general 
course  of  development  does  not  seem  to  be  open  to  much 
doubt.  We  cannot  be  certain  of  the  precise  figures,  but  we 
can  feel  confident  that  France  was  about  as  densely  popu- 
lated in  the  early  fourteenth  century  as  she  was  at  any  time 
prior  to  the  late  eighteenth  century.  The  land  of  France 
was  fully  settled  and  utilized  when  the  medieval  civilization 
was  at  its  height. 

II 

The  movement  of  population  in  England  has  been  ob- 
scured by  the  relative  uncertainty  that  has  existed  with 
The  Black  reference  to  the  population  prior  to  the  Black 
Death  Death.  In  Domesday  Book  and  in  the  roll  of 

the  poll-tax  of  1377  we  have  for  those  dates  much  more  accu- 
rate data  than  exist  for  France,  but  there  were  no  collected 
data  for  the  years  immediately  preceding  the  Black  Death. 
Some  writers,  notably  Seebohm  and  Gasquet,  declared  that 
England  had  enjoyed  great  prosperity  prior  to  the  great  pes- 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700       93 

tilence.  The  later  visitations  were  sufficient  in  their  minds 
to  prevent  any  considerable  increase  of  population  between 
1349  and  1377,  so  they  were  disposed  to  regard  the  figures  for 
1377  as  indicative  of  the  population  immediately  after  the 
Black  Death.  It  has  generally  been  assumed  that  the  popu- 
lation was  decreased  by  one  half  or  one  third  during  the  course 
of  the  pestilence,  so  that  this  would  indicate  a  population  of 
four  or  five  millions  hi  the  years  immediately  preceding  the 
pestilence.  If  this  were  true  the  general  course  of  the  growth 
of  population  hi  England  would  have  been  roughly  com- 
parable with  the  movement  of  population  in  France.  A 
population  of  five  millions  in  England  would  indicate  a  mean 
density  of  about  one  hundred  to  the  square  mile,  and  under 
such  conditions  it  would  be  necessary  to  suppose  that  Eng- 
land was  a  maturely  settled  country. 

The  figure  for  1327  given  in  the  table  above  is  based  upon 
inferences  drawn  from  the  subsidy  rolls  of  that  year;  or  in 
the  case  of  one  county  the  year  1332.  A  sub-  subsidy 
sidy  was  levied  in  1327  in  all  or  nearly  all  the  roUs>  I3*7 
counties,  and  many  of  the  rolls  for  the  counties  are  extant. 
These  materials  have  attracted  little  attention  from  stu- 
dents of  population,  partly  because  there  are  no  summarized 
results  and  partly  because  the  lists  are  lists  of  property- 
holders  rather  than  householders.  It  must  be  confessed  that 
the  basis  is  not  as  satisfactory  as  might  be  desired,  but  upon 
careful  examination  it  would  seem  that  there  are  no  more 
omissions  from  these  lists  than  from  the  other  lists  that  are 
the  basis  of  estimates  of  population.  Furthermore,  care- 
ful studies  by  Powell  of  the  subsidies  levied  in  Suffolk  in  1283 
afford  some  definite  indication  of  the  proportion  between  the 
total  population  and  the  number  of  persons  enumerated  hi 
the  subsidy  rolls.  The  multiple  six,  used  in  the  tables,  is 
derived  from  this  source. 

The  poll-tax  lists  which  are  available  for  1377  and  for  por- 
tions of  England  hi  1381  are  subject  to  many  omissions. 
They  purport  to  enumerate  the  entire  adult  Defects  of  the 
population  over  fourteen  years  of  age,  but  it  is  P011-*"  Usts 
still  necessary  to  compute  the  probable  number  of  children 


94 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


and  some  allowance  must  be  made  for  adults  not  enumerated. 
Large  numbers  escaped  enumeration  in  1381 ; "  escaped  "  is  the 
appropriate  term,  as  it  is  presumed  that  they  took  to  the 
woods  during  the  enumeration.  As  much  as  one  fifth  is 
added  by  some  writers  in  computing  from  the  lists  of  1377 
merely  on  account  of  omissions.  It  would  seem  defensible, 
therefore,  to  use  the  subsidy  rolls  of  the  early  fourteenth 
century  despite  the  fact  that  they  do  not  purport  to  be  ab- 
solutely comprehensive  enumerations  of  adults  or  house- 
holders. The  subsidy  was  a  tax  on  property  from  which  only 
the  very  poor  were  exempt;  the  returns  are  thus  comparable 
to  the  returns  of  the  Domesday  Survey.  Figures  from  five 
counties,  enumerated  in  Table  III,  indicate  a  population 
that  constituted  only  seventy  per  cent  of  the  population  of 
the  same  counties  in  1377.  These  counties  are  reasonably 
representative,  as  they  are  well  scattered  and  present  many 
diversities  of  condition.  They  contained  about  one  tenth 
of  the  population  of  England  in  1377.  Comparison  with 
the  figures  from  Domesday  Book  and  from  some  other  sub- 
sidy rolls  shows  that  the  population  was  not  growing  con- 
sistently. The  changes  in  Worcestershire  are  especially  no- 
table. There  were  50,000  persons  in  the  county  in  1280,  as 
The  estimate  compared  with  27,000  in  1086  and  28,000  in!327. 
for  1327  These  figures  would  not  support  the  contention 

that  the  population  of  England  was  at  its  maximum  just 
prior  to  the  Black  Death,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  find  any 
grounds  for  assuming  a  population  of  four  or  five  millions. 

TABLE  III 
CHANGES  IN  POPULATION:  1086,  1280,  1327,  1377 


County 

1086 

1280-1296 

1301 

1327 

1377 

Leicester  

40,632 

26,826 

50760 

Staffords  

19,068 

(1332) 

21,712 

35982 

Somerset  

82,584 

62,814 

87,072 

Sussex  

62,460 

41,244 

43,278 

58,310 

Worcester  

27,750 

50,898 

28,098 

25,758 

York,  North  Riding  

55,332 

182,728 

257,882 
53,097 

THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND :  1086-1700      95 

If  the  figures  are  interpreted  without  prejudice,  they  would 
indicate  that  the  population  in  1327  was  somewhat  less 
considerable  than  in  1377,  probably  not  as  much  as  thirty 
per  cent  short,  but  definitely  less  than  two  and  one  half  mil- 
lions. The  figure  2,225,000  is  designed  to  present  this 
opinion  in  round  numbers,  and,  though  it  is  hypothetical,  it 
is  not  much  more  of  a  guess  than  any  of  the  other  figures. 


RELATIVE  DENS/T/CS 
QT  SVPULAT/ON :  /O96 


96 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


These  considerations  would  perhaps  require  some  modifica- 
tion of  the  views  currently  expressed  about  the  mortality 
from  the  Black  Death.  The  epidemic  may  perhaps  have  been 
somewhat  less  general  or  the  mortality  somewhat  less  great. 
At  all  events,  the  recuperation  from  the  ravages  of  the  dis- 
ease must  have  been  much  more  rapid  than  has  been  assumed 
by  Cunningham,  Seebohm,  and  Gasquet.  The  suggestions 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700       97 

of  the  material  in  the  subsidy  rolls  lead  to  about  the  same 
conclusions  as  those  reached  by  Thorold  Rogers  from  calcu- 
lations based  upon  the  food-supply.  It  would  seem,  there- 
fore, that  we  have  grounds  for  saying  that  the  movement  of 
population  hi  England  was  distinctively  different  from  the 
movement  of  population  in  France. 
The  study  of  relative  changes  of  population  hi  the  various 


98 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


counties  is  fully  as  significant  as  the  study  of  totals  for  Eng- 
importance  ^anc^  as  a  wn°le-  In  some  respects  there  is  less 
of  county  likelihood  of  distortion  of  results  by  reason  of 
general  statistical  errors,  for  we  have  no  grounds 
for  supposing  that  errors  were  localized  by  counties.  Fur- 
thermore, a  considerable  margin  is  afforded  by  the  mode  of 
presentation  that  must  be  adopted  in  studying  density  fig- 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700      99 

ures  by  counties.  In  some  cases  small  differences  might  throw 
a  particular  county  into  a  higher  class  or  lower  class.  The  fig- 
ures for  York  in  1086  are  low  because  of  the  devastation  of 
the  county  shortly  before  the  survey.  Durham  is  set  down 
for  what  would  seem  to  be  a  very  excessive  figure  in  1570. 
With  these  exceptions  there  is  no  ground  for  assuming  that 
the  figures  for  any  particular  county  are  seriously  defective. 


&ELA  T/VE  0£NS/T/£S 
Of  POPULA77OAf/7OO 

M£AAf  Pf/VS/TY-  /// 


100  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND 

The  maps  showing  the  relative  density  of  population  have 
been  shaded  to  represent  the  relation  of  the  density  in  par- 
ticular counties  to  the  mean  density  of  population  in  England 
as  a  whole.  It  is  thus  possible  to  compare  the  conditions  at 
the  various  dates.  Changes  in  relative  density  can  be  stud- 
ied apart  from  the  general  growth  of  population.  Counties 
whose  population  was  not  more  than  five  persons  per  square 
mile  above  or  below  the  mean  density  for  all  England  con- 
stitute the  basic  group,  representing  approximately  the  mean 
density.  As  this  group  of  counties  is  to  serve  primarily  as  a 
basis  the  range  of  variation  has  been  made  small.  Deviation 
Deviation  from  from  this  mean  density  is  indicated  in  four 
the  mean  groups:  more  than  twenty-five  persons  per 
square  mile  above  the  mean;  between  six  and  twenty-five  per- 
sons more  than  the  mean  density;  between  six  and  twenty- 
five  persons  per  square  mile  less  than  the  mean  density;  and 
more  than  twenty-five  persons  less  than  the  mean  density. 
The  total  range  of  variation  thus  indicated  is  on  the  whole 
greater  than  would  be  found  in  a  maturely  settled  country 
prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolution. 

The  maps  reveal  a  fairly  definite  movement  of  population 
westward  and  northward.  At  the  time  of  the  Domesday 
Movements  of  Survey,  the  population  was  most  dense  in  the 
population  eastern  counties.  There  was  a  great  belt  of  mid- 
land counties  in  which  the  density  exceeded  the  mean  density 
for  England,  and  on  the  frontiers  of  Scotland  and  Wales  very 
low  densities.  Some  of  the  border  counties  were  not  enu- 
merated at  all,  but  allowance  has  been  made  for  their  pop- 
ulation in  calculating  the  mean  density.  The  relative  con- 
centration in  the  eastern  counties  gradually  disappears; 
population  does  not  decline  absolutely,  but  the  growth  in 
those  counties  is  not  as  rapid.  By  1600  the  population  had  be- 
come fairly  well  distributed  throughout  England.  In  no county 
was  there  a  population  that  exceeded  the  mean  density  by 
more  than  twenty-five  persons  to  the  square  mile;  the  coun- 
ties showing  such  excess  over  the  mean  density  in  1570  had 
passed  the  mark  by  very  small  margins,  and  there  is  consider- 
able reason  to  doubt  the  figure  for  Durham  in  1570.  The 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700     101 

map  for  1600  thus  indicates  the  close  of  the  first  phase  of  the 
development  of  settlement  in  England ;  there  was  Equalizing 
a  mean  density  of  87  persons  to  the  square  mile  tendencies 
and  population  was  rather  evenly  diffused.  In  the  seven- 
teenth century  the  beginnings  of  the  modern  massing  of  the 
population  are  evident.  The  metropolitan  area  of  London 
began  to  show  up  conspicuously,  and  Worcestershire  marks 
the  beginnings  of  the  manufacturing  districts  of  the  west. 
Lancashire  shows  a  high  density,  but  not  as  much  above  the 
mean  for  all  England  as  hi  1600.  The  map  for  this  period 
is  probably  typical  for  a  maturely  settled  country  prior  to  the 
Industrial  Revolution.  There  is  a  clear  distinction  between 
counties  whose  interests  were  purely  agricultural,  and  the 
counties  combining  agriculture  with  manufactures.  Norfolk, 
Gloucestershire,  Wilts,  and  Devon  were  the  principal  textile 
counties.  Worcestershire  combined  textiles  and  metals. 
The  textile  industries  of  Suffolk,  Essex,  and  Kent  had  de- 
clined and  they  had  become  more  largely  agricultural 
counties. 

The  changes  that  are  suggested  by  these  maps  can  hardly 
be  explained  except  in  terms  of  the  migration  and  differen- 
tial growth  that  would  naturally  be  seen  in  the  Meaning  of 
transition  from  a  sparsely  settled  frontier  to  a  to6™*?8 
maturely  settled  country  hi  which  the  relative  density  of 
settlement  is  closely  adapted  to  the  agricultural  and  indus- 
trial advantages  of  the  various  portions  of  the  total  area. 
The  massing  of  population  in  1086  represented  a  preliminary 
stage  in  settlement  in  which  the  coasts  were  more  densely 
settled  because  of  their  proximity  to  the  influences  of  the  Con- 
tinent. Immigration  from  the  Continent  affected  these  coun- 
ties more  than  the  midlands  and  new  industrial  processes  thus 
established  themselves  in  these  counties  earlier  than  else- 
where. The  map  of  1086  can  thus  be  explained  by  the  his- 
tory of  settlement.  The  map  of  1700,  on  the  other  hand, 
represents  the  relative  advantages  of  the  different  sections  of 
England.  The  study  of  the  density  of  population  by  counties 
tends  to  confirm  the  conclusions  suggested  by  the  study  of 
total  population  and  mean  density.  We  may  reasonably  con- 


102  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ceive  England  to  have  been  sparsely  populated  in  the  middle 
ages,  much  less  densely  populated  than  the  Low  Countries 
and  France.  England,  to  use  Mackinder's  apt  phrase,  was 
a  frontier  province  of  Europe. 

England  was  acted  upon  by  a  diversity  of  European  in- 
fluences, and  for  this  reason  the  history  of  England  must  be 
Medieval  studied  with  a  European  background.  Many 
frontie/of  English  institutions  were  imported  from  the 
Europe  Continent.  In  economic  concerns  England  was 

likewise  a  passive  subject.  Her  industrial  and  commercial 
life  in  this  early  period  was  dominated  by  Continental  influ- 
ences. The  woolen  industry  developed  under  the  stimulus 
of  the  French  and  Flemish  technique.  New  methods  and 
products  were  in  no  case  introduced  by  the  English  indus- 
tries of  this  period.  The  progress  of  manufacture  thus  fol- 
lows the  advance  in  Europe  after  an  interval  that  is  at  times 
considerable.  Not  until  1700  was  the  general  position  of 
English  industries  wholly  comparable  as  regards  technique 
with  the  similar  industries  on  the  Continent. 

The  Industrial  Revolution  thus  brought  about  a  great 
change  in  the  relative  positions  of  England  and  the  Conti- 
nental countries.  England  ceased  to  be  a  mere  frontier 
province  and  became  the  leading  exponent  of  Western  civili- 
zation, both  in  the  initiation  of  new  technique  and  in  the  dis- 
semination of  European  influences  in  the  Orient  and  in  the 
New  World. 

Ill 

The  period  prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolution  also  pre- 
sents a  marked  contrast  with  modern  conditions  with  respect 
to  the  relative  proportions  of  urban  to  rural 

Dispersion  r~Lr  .     , 

population.  In  the  early  period  towns  were 
small  and  in  general  the  population  was  widely  scattered  in 
villages  and  hamlets.  Dispersion  was  characteristic  of  this 
period,  just  as  concentration  is  characteristic  of  the  mod- 
ern period.  There  is  thus  a  difference  in  the  relation  of  the 
population  to  the  soil  as  well  as  some  difference  in  the  actual 
mass  of  the  population.  Although  the  population  of  France  in 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700     103 

the  nineteenth  century  was  not  very  much  greater  than  in  the 
early  fourteenth  century,  the  aspect  of  the  countryside  was 
different.  A  different  form  of  social  organization  had  grown 
up  which  emphasized  the  town,  and  especially  the  great  me- 
tropolis, at  the  expense  of  the  small  rural  communes.  We 
are  so  familiar  with  the  more  elaborately  organized  massing  of 
the  population  that  we  are  slow  to  realize  how  large  a  popula- 
tion can  be  maintained  when  widely  dispersed.  This  is  a 
feature  of  medieval  life  that  is  particularly  difficult  for  us  to 
reconstruct  imaginatively. 

There  is  sufficient  evidence  in  the  Domesday  Survey  to  en- 
able us  to  form  fairly  definite  impressions  of  the  size  of  settle- 
ments, but  the  statistics  have  not  as  yet  been  tabulated  for 
any   considerable   number  of   counties.      Professor   Vino- 
gradoff  has  worked  over  the  surveys  of  Derbyshire  and  Essex, 
which  are  fairly  typical  counties.     Derbyshire  TWO  counties 
showed  a  density  that  was  only  slightly  under  fa  Io86 
the  mean  density  for  England,  while  Essex  was  one  of  the 
most  densely  populated  counties.    The  counties  also  repre- 
sent somewhat  different  types  of  settlement  hi  other  respects. 

The  two  counties  [says  Vinogradoff]  may  be  taken  as  interesting 
examples  of  the  repartition  of  population  in  the  midlands  and  in 
the  southern  counties.  At  the  same  time  the  Danish  element  is 
strongly  represented  in  Derbyshire  without  being  predominant 
there,  while  Essex,  though  substantially  akin  to  Hertfordshire  and 
Sussex,  yet  has  many  features  in  common  with  the  East  Anglian 
settlement,  and  especially  Suffolk,  from  which  it  is  divided  by 
the  slight  demarcation  line  of  the  Stour.  In  regard  to  the  soil  and 
contour  of  the  country,  the  two  shires  in  question  present  marked 
contrast;  hills  and  dales  are  characteristic  of  Derbyshire,  plains  and 
marshes  of  Essex. 

Turning  to  the  northern  county,  we  naturally  find  a  population 
more  scattered,  and  concentrated  as  a  rule  into  smaller  groups.  It 
is  true  that  in  some  cases  a  rural  organization  described  under  one 
name  in  Domesday  may  in  truth  have  consisted  of  several  members 
only  loosely  connected  with  each  other.  But  although  this  element 
of  uncertainty  cannot  be  eliminated,  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  as- 
sume that  the  single  place  name  points  to  a  nucleated  settlement 
of  some  sort,  as  the  record  is  careful  to  notice  over  and  over  again 
the  subdivision  of  rural  units.  . 


104  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  best  way  seems  to  be  to  group  the  settlements  according  to 
the  number  of  villein  and  soc-man  households  assigned  to  them. 
The  villeins  and  soc-men  were  the  principal  classes  of  rural  tenan- 
try, and  held  among  them  the  regular  snares  of  the  field  holdings, 
while  bordarii  and  cotters  came  in  as  small  tenants  of  a  few  acres 
or  of  cottages,  and  had  better  be  left  aside  in  a  review  of  the  main 
features  of  the  village  settlements.1 

The  number  of  households  of  villeins  and  soc-men  would 
represent  roughly  one  sixth  of  the  total  population.  Vino- 
vuiages  and  gradoff  suggests  grouping  settlements  of  2  to  5 
hamlets  households  (under  thirty  persons),  6  to  11  house- 

holds (36  to  66  persons),  and  over  12  households  (over  72 
persons).  These  groupings  may  seem  to  emphasize  unduly 
the  very  small  settlements,  but  there  were  so  few  that  were 
larger  that  separate  classification  would  scarcely  be  necessary. 
In  Derbyshire  there  were  only  6  or  7  villages  of  30  or  more 
households,  so  that  the  classification  as  a  large  village  of  any 
settlement  having  more  than  12  households  is  definitely  jus- 
tifiable. In  Essex,  there  were  19  villages  with  40  or  more 
households:  one  village  had  143  households,  the  other  18 
ranged  hi  size  between  40  and  80,  few  of  them  having  more 
than  60  households.  The  proportions  of  the  total  popula- 
tion living  within  these  various  types  of  settlement  were  as 
follows: 

Derby      Essex 
per  cent  per  cent 

Hamlets,  2-5  households 9  9.4 

Small  villages,  6-11  households 35  16.9 

Large  villages,  over  12  households 57  73 . 1 

91  99.0 

The  portion  of  the  population  of ,  Derby  that  was  not  clas- 
sified cannot  be  assumed  to  be  distributed  in  larger  units; 
the  impossibility  of  making  the  classification  complete  is 
due  merely  to  the  difficulty  of  placing  the  unclassified  entries 
within  the  designated  groups.  ' '  Boroughs ' '  are  omitted,  but, 
as  will  be  seen  later,  the  Domesday  borough  was  not  distin- 
guishable from  the  villages  in  respect  to  size.  With  rare 
exceptions  there  was  no  urban  population:  no  groupings 
1  Vinogradoff ,  p.,  English  Society  in  the  Eleventh  Century,  269. 


THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND:  1086-1700     105 

of  population  sufficiently  large  or  dependent  upon  com- 
merce and  industry  as  distinct  from  agriculture  to  admit 
of  separate  classification.  The  population  was  exclusively 
rural. 

The  subsidy  rolls  of  the  early  fourteenth  century  afford 
further  evidence  of  the  relation  of  population  to  the  soil.  The 
classifications  must  be  changed  slightly,  it  the  division  into 
groups  is  to  bear  any  relation  to  the  relative  ,. 

f  <•      -11  £  xu  •  •  rnu      Villages  ini327 

numbers  of  villages  of  the  various  sizes.  The 
somewhat  larger  figures,  however,  cannot  be  assumed  to  in- 
dicate that  the  settlements  were  as  large  as  indicated.  In  the 
tax-rolls  we  seem  to  be  dealing  with  areas  rather  than  with 
final  units  of  settlement,  and  at  tunes  two  or  three  villages 
are  explicitly  grouped.  Casual  phrases,  too,  suggest  that  va- 
rious scattered  farms  were  included  in  the  enumeration  under 
the  caption  of  a  neighboring  village.  We  may  be  sure  that 
the  settlements  were  not  larger.  But  even  when  all  these 
allowances  have  been  made,  it  seems  clear  that  there  were 
more  large  villages,  villages  of  two  or  three  hundred  inhabi- 
tants, than  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday  Survey.  At  this 
period  the  boroughs  were  becoming  distinct  types  of  settle- 
ment, but  were  not  significantly  larger  than  some  of  the  vil- 
lages. In  the  County  of  Somerset  17  places  were  described 
as  boroughs,  ranging  in  size  from  11  households  to  63 
households.  Only  3  boroughs  had  more  than  „ 

Boroughs 

60  households.  There  were  13  villages  with  more 
than  60  households,  1  having  176  and  another  103  households. 
In  Staffordshire,  there  were  3  boroughs,  having  55,  56,  and 
57  households  respectively:  there  were  no  villages  hi  the 
county  of  more  than  47  households,  and  only  3  having  more 
than  40.  In  Sussex  and  Worcestershire,  there  were  villages 
that  were  as  large  or  larger  than  boroughs,  thouigh.  in  Worces- 
tershire the  City  of  Worcester  was  the  largest  place  in  the 
county.  In  1280,  at  a  period  of  great  prosperity,  it  had  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  1800  persons,  though  no  village  had  more 
than  1500  persons.  The  poll-tax  returns  for  1377  afford  the 
first  comprehensive  indications  of  the  emergence  of  towns 
that  are  distinctive  units  of  settlement.  The  list  of  towns, 


106 


however,  shows  pretty  clearly  that  the  urban  movement 
was  just  beginning. 

POPULATION  OP  THE  TOWNS  LISTED  ON  THE  ROLL  OP  THE  POLL  TAX 

OP  1377 

(One  third  of  the  enumerated  population  is  added  to  represent  children,  and  one 
fifth  of  that  total  is  added  to  cover  possible  omissions.) 


London 37,302 

York 11,597 

Bristol 10,152 

Plymouth 7,738 

Coventry 7,706 

Norwich 6,322 

Lincoln 5,458 

Salisbury 5,161 

Lynn 5,002 

Colchester 4,728 

Beverley 4,260 

Newcastle 4,234 

Canterbury 4,128 

Bury  St.  Edmunds 3,907 

Oxford 3,770 

Gloucester 3,582 

Leicester 3,361 

Shrewsbury 3,331 

Yarmouth 3,105 

Hereford 3,044 

Ely 2,857 

Cambridge 2,857 

Exeter 2,496 

Worcester 2,491 

The  predominantly  rural  character  of  fourteenth-cen- 
tury England  is  suggested  by  the  following  tables: 

TABLE  IV 
NUMBER  OP  SETTLEMENTS:  1327  AND  1332 


Kingston-on-Hull 2,491 

Ipswich 2,410 

Northampton 2,362 

Nottingham 2,313 

Winchester 2,304 

Stamford 1,948 

Newark 1,884 

Ludlow 1,874 

Wells 1,874 

Southampton 1,843 

Derby 1,672 

Lichfield 1,538 

Chichester 1,389 

Boston 1,302 

Carlisle 1,084 

Rochester 912 

Bath 912 

Dartmouth 808 

9  towns  over 5,000 

11  towns 3,000-4,999 

19  towns 1,000-2,999 

3  towns  under 1,000 


County 

UnderVO 
names 

20-39  names 

40-59 

names 

Over  60 
names 

Boroughs 

Leicester  

279 

43 

I 

1 

Staff  ords  

218 

46 

3 

3 

Somerset  

.     402 

138 

20 

13 

17 

Sussex  

179 

117 

21 

8 

6 

Worcester  

110 

58 

23 

6 

5 

York,  North  Riding, 
1301  

349 

102 

13 

7 

Manors 
109 

THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND :  1086-1700     107 


TABLE  V 

PROPORTIONS  OF  THE  TOTAL  POPULATION  INHABITING  EACH  OF  THE 
VARIOUS  GROUPS  OF  SETTLEMENTS:  1327,  1332,  AND  1301 


County 

Per  cent  in  villages  of 

Per  cent 

Under  20 
names 

20-39  names 

40-59  names 

Over  60  names 

In 

boroughs 

Not 
specified 

Leicester.  .  .  . 
Staffords.  .  .  . 
Somerset.  .  .  . 
Sussex  

66.98 
62.88 
39.64 
32.31 
26.14 

21.74 
29.15 
35.08 
42.85 
32.58 

0.92 
3.24 
9.23 
13.13 
23.81 

9.  '93 
8.69 
10.04 

10.36 
4.37 
4.91 
3.02 
7.43 

i.'2i 

Worcester.  .  . 

York,  North 
Riding,  1301 

43.29 

28.31 

6.89 

4.22 

17.29 

If  we  assume  that  the  total  population  is  about  six  times 
the  number  of  names  on  these  subsidy  rolls,  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  bulk  of  the  population  lived  in  villages 


of  less  than  300  inhabitants,  and  in  some  coun-  of  small 
ties  two  thirds  of  the  population  lived  in  villages 
of  less  than  120  inhabitants.  It  is  unfortunate  that  there 
has  not  been  more  study  of  the  sources  of  information  avail- 
able to  us.  The  statistics  are  not  minutely  accurate,  and 
yet  they  present  a  more  vivid  picture  of  the  general  basis  of 
medieval  life  than  any  other  kind  of  information  we  possess. 
It  would  probably  be  possible  to  work  out  specifically  the 
regions  of  small  hamlets  and  large  villages,  and  these  differ- 
ences in  the  size  of  settlements  would  have  some  relation  to 
forms  of  village  organization  and  methods  of  agriculture. 
Despite  the  amount  of  work  that  has  been  done  on  medie- 
val records  we  may  still  feel  that  there  are  many  important 
social  data  still  to  be  gathered. 

These  figures  for  London  are  given,  as  the  best  obtainable. 
The  growth  of  the  seventeenth  century  is  somewhat  exag- 
gerated by  the  inclusion  of  outlying  parishes  in  The  growth 
the  statistics.    This  is  in  itself  an  indication  of  of  London 
the  growing  consciousness  of  the  existence  of  a  metropolitan 
area  distinct  from  the  City  of  London  in  its  strict  legal  sense. 
The  area  for  which  figures  are  given  after  the  beginning  of 
the  seventeenth  century  is  the  registration  area  of  births  and 


108  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ESTIMATED  POPULATION  OF  LONDON  * 

1348-49 under  50,000 

1377 43,700 

1400-1500 40,000-50,000 

1532-35 62,400 

1563 93,276 

1580 123,034 

1593-95 152,478 

1605 224,275 

1622 272,207 

1634 339,824 

1661 460,000 

1682 669,000 

18th  century about  700,000 

1801  (census) 864,000 

•  Creighton,  C.:  "The  Population  of  Old  London,"  Blackwood's  Magazine,  vol.  149,  pp.  484, 
486,  495.  It  is  unfortunate  that  Creighton  makes  no  attempt  to  correlate  the  materials  from 
the  bills  of  mortality  with  the  gradual  changes  in  the  limits  within  which  such  information 
was  collected.  These  limits  were  extended  with  especial  rapidity  in  the  years  1631-61.  The 
multiplicity  of  areas  that  might  be  called  London  is  thus  a  serious  source  of  confusion  at  an 
early  stage  of  genuine  metropolitan  growth.  The  expansion  of  the  seventeenth  century  is  in 
considerable  measure  expansion  of  the  area  identified  with  London. 

deaths,  usually  described  as  the  area  within  the  Bills  of 
Mortality.  Little  attempt  has  been  made  to  study  all  the 
elements  involved  in  the  growth  of  the  general  urban  area, 
and,  as  these  problems  would  require  much  critical  study  and 
no  little  erudition,  it  would  be  out  of  place  to  include  such  a 
study  in  the  present  sketch.  Some  general  conception  of  the 
growth  of  London  is,  however,  of  great  importance.  It  will 
be  evident  that  the  growth  of  London  was  very  slow  until 
somewhat  after  1500.  The  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  cen- 
turies were  characterized  by  a  notable  increase  hi  population, 
and  this  period  of  growth  was  brought  to  a  close  about  1700 
by  the  difficulty  of  dealing  with  the  sanitary  problems  of  ur- 
ban life.  The  plague  was  a  persistent  feature  in  the  life  of 
the  city  and  a  large  factor  in  its  death-rate.  There  was  no 
possibility  of  growth  by  natural  increase;  the  general  level  of 
population  was  maintained  by  the  influx  of  people  from  the 
country.  London  and  Paris  were,  at  this  period,  about  equal 
in  size,  Paris  being  perhaps  slightly  larger.  Both  cities 
failed  to  make  any  significant  growth  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  increase  in  the  size  of  Lon- 
don revealed  by  the  census  of  1801  is  presumed  to  have  been 
the  result  of  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years. 


CHAPTER  V 
VILLAGE  AND  MANOR 


SYMPATHETIC  appreciation  of  the  life  of  the  medieval 
period  is  impossible  unless  the  rights  and  duties  of  the  vil- 
lager are  clearly  understood.  The  daily  round  of  his  duties 
and  the  legal  definition  of  his  relations  to  his  neighbors  are 
both  of  moment.  Furthermore,  we  must  not  forget  that  dur- 
ing the  major  portion  of  the  period  the  life  of  the  villager 
was  affected  by  the  presence  of  a  personage  of  some  degree  of 
social  and  political  consequence.  The  "big  house,"  as  it 
is  frequently  called  to-day  by  the  English  peas-  villagers  and 
antry,  was  not  a  part  of  the  village  in  any  accu-  maenates 
rate  sense  of  the  word,  but  the  life  of  the  village  was  very  defi- 
nitely concerned  with  the  "big  house"  and  its  master.  The 
superficial  appearance  of  rural  life  changes  very  slowly  and 
there  are  still  in  England  some  few  villages  which  would  pre- 
sent to  the  casual  observer  most  of  the  features  of  rural  Eng- 
land in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  crops  would  be  different; 
farm  implements  would  be  better;  food  more  varied;  cloth- 
ing profoundly  changed;  but  the  aspect  of  the  village  fields, 
the  village  street,  and  the  "big  house"  would  all  be  substan- 
tially as  they  were  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The  "shell" 
of  the  old  English  village  can  still  be  seen,  though  the  legal 
framework  of  society  has  been  completely  transformed.  In 
the  few  archaic  villages  that  still  exist  the  ancient  system  of 
farming  is  perhaps  more  nearly  discernible  than  the  legal  and 
social  relations  among  the  villagers. 

The  present  position  of  the  aristocracy  in  England  is  of 
course  a  heritage  from  the  remote  past,  and  the  critics  of 
aristocratic  institutions,  therefore,  find  much  to  deplore  in 
the  ancient  system  that  created  this  division  of  society  into 
classes.  Some  have  written  bitterly  of  the  titled  personages 
that  kept  the  land  in  "fetters,"  refusing  to  allow  their  fellow- 


110  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

men  to  raise  food  on  land  which  they  themselves  put  to  no 
higher  use  than  the  breeding  of  pheasants.  Many  problems 
of  agrarian  history  have  thus  become  so  inextricably  inter- 
woven with  the  social  problems  of  the  present  day  that  it  is 
difficult  to  approach  the  past  with  the  dispassionate  detach- 
ment that  is  most  favorable  to  a  just  understanding  of  history. 
Those  whose  interest  has  been  centered  around  the  growth 
of  free  institutions  have  also  contributed  prejudices  which 
judgment  of  color  interpretations  of  the  rural  life  of  the  mid- 
the  old  order  ^le  ages>  'There  are  suspicions  that  the  villager 
was  originally  free  and  that  he  lost  his  freedom  by  reason  of 
the  unjust  use  of  political  power  and  economic  advantages. 
The  slow  process  by  which  the  villager  acquired  his  freedom 
is  followed  with  interest,  but  there  is  little  sympathy  for  the 
system  of  social  organization  which  is  regarded  as  the  means 
of  depriving  the  villager  of  freedom.  Many  writers  who 
find  little  to  criticize  in  the  institutions  of  the  present  day, 
thus  find  grounds  for  believing  that  the  middle  ages  were  a 
peculiarly  dismal  and  unfavorable  period.  It  is  as  difficult 
to  pass  judgment  upon  the  medieval  rural  life  as  it  is  to  ap- 
preciate justly  the  position  of  the  negroes  in  the  South  before 
the  Civil  War.  At  their  worst,  these  systems  of  organiza- 
tion were  no  doubt  a  curse  to  all  concerned:  slave  and  mas- 
ter, villein  and  lord,  alike.  At  their  best,  and  perhaps  even 
generally,  these  institutions  were  not  inconsistent  with  some 
measure  of  material  well-being.  It  is  doubtful  if  we  can  say 
more  of  the  social  institutions  of  our  own  time.  Modern  in- 
dustrialism at  its  worst  can  create  miseries  which  can  scarcely 
not  a  primary  be  surpassed,  though  many  are  pleased  to  be- 
purpose  of  lieve  that  there  are  opportunities  for  the  devel- 
opment of  personality  that  did  not  exist  in 
earlier  periods.  An  uncharitable  critic,  however,  can  paint 
a  sufficiently  dismal  picture  of  our  own  day.  Whether  or  no 
there  is  real  improvement  in  the  social  conditions  under  which 
the  mass  of  the  people  lives,  it  is  at  least  certain  that  our 
understanding  of  the  past  is  not  promoted  by  attempts  to  dis- 
cover evils  and  find  grounds  for  the  condemnation  of  long 
historical  periods. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  111 

The  study  of  these  bygone  methods  of  agriculture  and  these 
obsolete  English  land  tenures  is  gradually  becoming  part  of 
a  larger  sociological  study  which  includes  not  sociology  and 
merely  the  more  primitive  periods  of  European  land  tenures 
development,  but  also  the  conditions  which  now  exist  among 
many  peoples  in  the  most  sparsely  settled  portions  of  the 
world,  most  notably  in  Africa.  The  history  of  village  life  in 
India  is  also  a  portion  of  this  more  general  study  of  primitive 
methods  of  agriculture  and  land-holding.  The  broader  view 
of  the  sociologist  tends  to  emphasize  what  the  jurists  and 
constitutional  historians  were  prone  to  forget.  These  va- 
rious primitive  and  archaic  customs  are  not  merely  an  his- 
torical stepping-stone  to  modern  land  law;  they  were  methods 
of  organizing  rural  life  that  had  a  significant  relation  to  the 
economic  needs  of  a  sparse  population.  The  laws  and  cus- 
toms which  we  find  so  difficult  to  understand  were  the  ex- 
pression of  vital  economic  needs,  and  it  is  not  entirely  clear 
yet  that  the  opening-up  of  large  areas  of  new  land  can  be 
accomplished  better  under  the  principles  of  modern  Euro- 
pean law.  Many  changes  in  agrarian  methods  and  many 
diversities  in  the  form  of  settlement  are  due  to  changing 
relations  of  the  population  to  the  land.  The  legal  organi- 
zation of  village  life  is  thus  only  part  of  the  Tenure  related 
problem  and  the  merits  of  a  particular  method  to  economic 
of  legal  organization  cannot  be  judged  except  in 
relation  to  economic  conditions.  It  is  suggestive  in  this  con- 
nection to  remember  the  experience  of  the  French  in  Algeria. 
It  seemed  to  the  administration  in  1850-60  that  it  would  be 
wise  to  clear  away  the  obscurities  and  uncertainties  of  Mos- 
lem land  tenures,  which  like  medieval  tenures  rested  on  use 
rather  than  exclusive  ownership.  The  precise  conceptions 
of  modern  land  law  were  thus  substituted  for  these  vague 
notions  of  use.  It  might  well  seem  that  such  a  policy  was 
an  enlightened  furtherance  of  social  progress.  Events  proved 
that  it  was  a  mistake.  It  has  turned  out  to  be  economically 
disadvantageous;  it  has  undermined  native  agriculture  and 
concentrated  land  in  the  hands  of  Europeans,  leaving  the 
natives  impoverished.  In  northern  Nigeria  the  British  ad- 


112 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


ministration  is  pursuing  the  opposite  policy.  Recent  laws 
provide  that  no  rights  in  land  shall  be  recognized  that  are  not 
established  in  the  native  customs.  No  one,  least  of  all  a  Eu- 
ropean, is  allowed  to  buy  land.  The  necessity  of  following 
such  a  policy  suggests  a  vital  relation  between  primitive  land 
tenures  and  the  needs  of  primitive  life.  It  is  implied  also  that 
legal  forms  are  not  an  end  in  themselves.  The  elaborately 
sophisticated  notions  of  modern  law  are  not  absolutely  bet- 
ter  than  primitive  notions.  The  legal  framework  of  society 
must  be  adapted  to  the  economic  conditions  of  the  time. 

II.  SCATTERED  FARMS  AND  VILLAGES 

A  rural  population  may  be  settled  on  the  land  in  one  or 
more  of  three  forms.    The  people  may  live  in  scattered  farms ; 


Sketch  of  the  Enclosure  Map  of  the 


Township  of  Stow,  Lincolnshire.     1804. 


in  villages  surrounded  by  enclosed  fields  and  individual  farms; 
or  in  villages  surrounded  by  fields  not  divided  into  perma- 
nent individual  holdings.  In  this  last  case  the  land  was 
cultivated  by  the  entire  village  in  accordance  with  certain 
general  rules  and  arrangements.  The  more  perplexing  his- 
torical and  constitutional  problems  are  concerned  with  this 
third  form  of  settlement  and  its  agricultural  methods. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  113 

In  the  enclosed  village  the  land  would  be  cultivated  by  the 
individual  villagers  each  according  to  his  taste  and  disposi- 
tion. The  fields  of  each  villager  would  be  sep-  Enclosed  ^^ 
arated  from  the  untilled  land  and  from  other  open-field 
arable  fields  by  permanent  fences.  In  the 
.open-field  village,  the  land  would  lie  in  large  masses  unob- 
structed by  any  but  the  most  temporary  kinds  offence,  divided 
into  large  units  for  each  particular  season.  The  enclosure 
map  of  the  Parish  of  Stow  illustrates  the  general  features  of 
this  arrangement.  There  is  a  considerable  area  devoted  to 
the  village  with  its  houses  and  gardens,  and  we  may  presume 
that  this  general  area  was  separated  from  the  outlying  fields 
by  permanent  fences  or  hedges.  The  area  designated  as 
"old  enclosures"  was  also  divided  into  separate  lots.  These 
fields  were  cultivated  without  reference  to  the  general  agri- 
cultural arrangements  of  the  village.  At  the  other  end  of 
the  village  there  were  areas  reserved  for  pasture;  special 
grazing-land  was  set  apart  for  the  plough  oxen  in  order  to 
assure  them  ample  forage  at  a  short  distance  from  the  village. 
The  arable  land  of  the  village  thus  lay  in  four  irregular  fields. 
There  are  grounds  for  believing  that  there  were  only  two 
fields  in  the  early  period,  designated  respectively  as  "east" 
and  "  west"  fields,  and  in  those  days  we  must  presume  that 
there  was  relatively  more  cow  pasture  and  no  enclosures  at 
the  westerly  end  of  the  village.  The  changes  in  the  arrange- 
ment of  the  fields  that  can  thus  be  deduced  from  the  late  map 
were  the  outcome  of  attempts  to  improve  the  system  of 
village  agriculture.  If  there  were  only  two  fields  The  two-field 
one  half  the  land  of  the  village  would  lie  idle  system 
each  year,  for  medieval  agriculture  was  based  upon  an  alter- 
nation of  cropping  and  fallowing.  In  the  early  period,  the 
large  masses  of  arable  were  devoted  to  wheat,  and  as  long 
as  no  other  crops  were  grown  the  resting  of  the  land  in  alter- 
nate years  was  economically  profitable. 

The  precise  nature  of  the  benefits  of  a  fallow  year  is  not 
well  understood.  It  is  now  held  that  the  decom-  _ 

.  .  Fallowing 

position  of  the  great  mass  of  roots  left  in  the 

soil  by  the  cereal  crops  produces  conditions  that  are  un- 


114  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

favorable  to  the  growth  of  the  same  crop  in  the  following 
year.  It  is  not  now  deemed  likely  that  the  fertility  of  the 
soil  is  really  impaired  hi  any  way  that  would  admit  of  recov- 
ery during  the  fallow  year,  though  the  weathering  in  the  in- 
terval is  undoubtedly  beneficial.  Experiments  conducted  at 
Rothamstead  for  a  series  of  years  resulted  in  a  production  of 
slightly  more  than  twelve  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre  when 
wheat  was  grown  continuously,  whereas  eighteen  bushels 
were  grown  per  acre  when  an  alternation  of  wheat  and  fallow 
was  practiced.1  These  yields  were  larger  than  the  medieval 
yields,  as  modern  methods  of  cultivation  were  used,  but  one 
must  presume  that  the  proportionate  importance  of  fallowing 
is  roughly  indicated.  Under  the  three-field  system  the  usual 
yield  of  wheat  was  eigHt  or  nine  bushels  per  acre;  pro- 
portionately less  would  be  raised  under  the  two-field  sys- 
tem or  under  continuous  cropping.  In  southern  Russia  and 
in  parts  of  the  United  States  farmers  are  content  to  harvest 
seven  or  eight  bushels  of  wheat  per  acre,  and  an  appreciably 
smaller  yield  must  have  been  secured  under  continuous  crop- 
ping in  medieval  Europe.  Fallowing  increased  the  crop  so 
significantly  that  it  became  almost  universal  in  the  middle 
ages.  At  first  an  alternation  of  wheat  and  fallow  was  prac- 
ticed; soon,  further  modification  was  made  to  economize  the 
arable  area.  It  was  discovered  that  satisfactory  crops  of 
The  three-  the  other  cereals  could  je"grown^mjnediately 
field  system  alfer  a^Brop  of  "^le^an^nby^is  njanFlEe' 
fallow  was  reduced  to  one  year  in  three.  One  third  of  the 
arable  only  need  lie  idle.  Somewhat  less  wheat  would  be 
grown,  but  there  would  be  a  crop  of  rye,  oats,  or  barley.  The 
change  from  the  two-field  system  to  the  three-field  system 
was  probably  made  at  an  early  date,  for  no  general  change  in 
agricultural  methods  was  necessary.  No  new  crops  were 
really  introduced.  Nothing  need  be  done  but  rearrange  the 
arable  fields. 

The  division  of  the  arable  into  two  or  three  fields,  which 
were  left  fallow  every  second  or  third  year,  made  it  necessary 
for  each  villager  to  have  land  in  each  field,  and,  though  the 

1  Hall,  A.  D.:  The  Book  of  Rothamstead  Experiments  (New  York,  1905),  65. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  115 

reason  is  not  clear,  the  parcels  of  land  used  by  the  villagers 
were  not  compact  masses  even  within  the  Allotments 
fields.  Each  field  was  divided  into  small  strips  to  villagers 
containmg_at_the  mQSt.an  acre  or  an  acre  and  a  half,  seldom 
less  than  a  quarter  of  an  acre.  Normally,  the  strips  were 
long  and  narrow,  but  the  shape  of  the  strips  was  largely  de-  JL. %*• 
termined  by  the  method  of  ploughing  which  was  necessarily 
related  to  all  the  details  of  the  configuration  of  the  land. 
These  small  strips  were  divided  among  the  villagers  partly 
with  reference  to  equal  division  of  all  the  kinds  of  soil  among 
all,  partly  with  reference  to  cooperative  ploughing.  In  the 
early  period  the  strips  of  the  villagers  were  intermingled  so 
that  no  one  would  possess  contiguous  strips.  If  a  villager 
maintained  himself  and  his  family  entirely  by  agriculture 
he  would  require  about  thirty  acres  of  arable  land :  his  holding 
would  consist  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  strips  scattered  around 
in  the  two  or  three  fields.  The  strips  were  divided  from  each 
other  by  ridges  of  unploughed  turf,  and  the  furrows  were 
turned  in  toward  the  center  of  the  strip  so  that  the  strips 
were  pretty  distinctly  set  off  from  each  other. 

The  work  of  the  village  required  some  organization,  be- 
cause the  dates  of  ploughing  and  harvesting  were  of  impor- 
tance to  all.  The  cattle  were  usually  turned  in  village  agn- 
upon  the  stubble  after  the  harvest,  and  it  was  culture 
therefore  essential  that  no  one  should  delay  this  use  of  the 
fields  by  neglecting  to  get  in  his  crops  with  the  others.  Plough- 
ing and  planting  were  subject  to  similar  limitations.  In  order 
to  avoid  wasting  land  in  lanes  and  roadways,  no  permanent 
provision  was  made  for  access  to  the  fields.  Certain  strips 
were  designated  to  serve  as  means  of  access,  and  they  were 
therefore  ploughed  last.  It  was  equally  necessary  to  har- 
vest them  first  in  the  fall.  Crops,  ploughing,  planting, 
harvesting,  were  thus  all  subject  to  some  rough  organiza- 
tion for  the  village  as  a  whole.  Ploughs  and  plough  teams 
were  owned  jointly  and  used  cooperatively.  The  village  con- 
stituted a  community  in  a  more  organic  sense  than  the  mod- 
ern village,  but  one  must  avoid  confusing  this  organization 
of  agriculture  with  what  we  think  of  to-day  as  communism. 


116  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

There  was  no  community  of  goods  in  the  medieval  village; 
both  land  and  crops  were  subject  to  the  control  of  individuals 
and  were  capable  of  being  accumulated.  The  nature  of  the 
rights  over  the  land  were  different  from  the  property  rights 
familiar  to  us,  but  there  was  an  exclusive  right  to  use  certain 
quantities  of  land  which  makes  it  impossible  to  compare 
this  medieval  system  with  any  type  of  socialistic  com- 
munism. 

Medieval  England  exhibited  all  three  forms  of  settlement. 
Scattered  farms  were  the  characteristic  forms  in  some  of  the 
Forms  of  infertile  regions;  and  even  in  the  fertile  sections, 

settlement  there  were  usually  some  farms  lying  interspersed 
among  the  villages.  Hamlets  or  small  villages  which  pos- 
sessed no  organized  two-  or  three-field  system  were  the  char- 
acteristic feature  of  the  northern  counties,  and  predominated 
likewise  hi  Wales  and  Scotland.  Larger  villages  without 
field  systems  were  found  in  the  eastern  counties.  Organ- 
ized field  systems  were  the  predominant  feature  of  village 
life  in  the  midlands. 

The  explanation  of  these  different  modes  of  settlement  has 
been  largely  based  in  the  past  upon  the  racial  aspects  of  the 
Various  ex-  settlement  of  Britain.  The  scattered  farm  is 
pianations  identified  with  surviving  Celts;  the  open-field 
villages  with  their  field  systems  are  identified  with  Teutonic 
elements;  and  the  absence  of  field  systems  in  the  eastern 
counties  is  explained  by  survival  of  Roman  forms  of  rural 
organization.  This  identification  of  the  mode  of  settlement 
with  racial  customs  has  so  long  commanded  the  allegiance  of 
constitutional  historians  that  it  is  hardly  fitting  to  do  more 
than  urge  the  claims  of  explanations  that  are  economic  rather 
than  cultural  and  legal.  .Study  of  conditions  in  Siberia  by 
Russian  scholars  has  shown  that  tEe  highly  organized  open- 
field  .village  can  develop  naturally  out  of  scattered  farms,_ 
which  tend  to  predominate  when  the  country  is  first  settled 
by  casual  colonists.  The  development  of  village  life  creates 
scarcities  of  arable  land  and  meadows  which  make  it  desirable 
to  restrict  individual  caprice  and  greed.  We  are  thus  in  a 
position  to  assert  that  these  different  forms  of  village  life  are 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR 


117 


not  exclusively  of  racial  origin,  though  the  character  of  the 
Teutonic  migrations  in  Europe  undoubtedly  adds  racial 
and  cultural  elements  to  the  history  of  settlement  in  western 
Europe.  Furthermore,  the  emphasis  upon  the  underlying 
economic  factors  by  these  Russian  scholars  affords  explana- 
tions of  many  features  of  medieval  life  that  would  otherwise 
have  no  meaning  to  us  at  the  present  day. 

The  transition  from  the  settlement  in  scattered  farms  to 
the_open-field  village,  or  village  community,  is  brought  about 
primarily  by  increase  of  population.  Different  methods  of 


Surveys  and  Terrie 
referred  to  in  "  Gray's  Eng- 
lish Field  Systems"     \ 

1P-?T»  Boundary  of  the 
Tvo-iud-tbre*  Field  gj 


118  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

using  land  become  necessary  because  land  becomes  relatively 
Economic  "  scarce.  The  significance  of  increasing  population 
factors  an(}  Of  relative  scarcities  of  land  must  be  con- 

sidered with  reference  to  each  type  of  land.  In  primitive 
times  little  attempt  is  made  to  transform  nature.  The  mead- 
ows are  the  only  source  of  hay,  because  they  alone  present 
sufficiently  favorable  conditions  to  the  growth  of  grasses  to 
maintain  a  continuous  crop.  Forests  are  not  cut  clear  and 
the  land  prepared  for  the  plough  until  all  the  unforested  land 
has  been  occupied,  and  the  search  for  such  unforested  land 
has  been  a  notable  feature  of  the  migrations  and  settle- 
ment of  western  Europe.  If  the  population  is  sparse  there 
will  be  meadow  and  arable  for  all.  Each  settler  can  appro- 
priate such  land  as  he  needs.  Land  is  substantially  a  free 
good. 

On  the  non-appropriated  meadows  the  unrestricted  right  to  cut 
grass  produces,  with  increase  of  population,  disastrous  results.  As 
Beginnings  the  number  of  cutters  increases,  competition  arises, 
of  regulation  and  each  tries  to  commence  cutting  earlier  than  the 
others;  this  diminishes  the  crop,  because  no  one  waits  until  it  is 
fully  ripe.  All  lose  by  this,  and  the  community,  to  prevent  it,  for- 
bids the  cutting  of  grass  before  a  certain  date.  .  .  .  The  next  stage 
in  the  regulation  of  meadows  has  already  an  equalizing  character. 
In  Siberia,  among  the  Kirgizes,  the  Cossacks,  etc.  the  preventive 
measures  are  followed  by  a  limitation  of  the  number  of  cutters 
each  family  may  employ.  .  .  .  Finally,  the  community  allots  to 
those  who  have  not  enough  grass,  parts  of  the  meadows  occupied 
by  others.1 

In  the  case  of  appropriated  arable  land  the  process  is  more 
complicated.  At  the  outset  each  settler  is  free  to  occupy  such 
From  free  l&nd  as  he  can.  Despite  the  seeming  equality 
occupation  to  of  opportunity  inequalities  soon  arise.  With 
a  large  family  more  land  can  be  occupied  and 
used.  The  possession  of  a  few  more  draught  animals  enables 
a  man  to  bring  much  more  land  under  cultivation.  Small 
differences  in  nomad  wealth  thus  become  translated  into 
large  differences  in  landed  possessions.  Class  conflicts  arise 
between  the  rich  peasants  and  the  poor,  which  may  at  tunes 

1  Lewinski:  Origin  of  Property  in  Land,  p.  33. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  119 

result  in  violence.  Once  the  poor  become  relatively  numer- 
ous and  suitable  plough  land  becomes  scarce,  the  original 
freedom  of  occupation  is  restricted.  Because  arable  land 
is  more  necessary  than  meadow,  pasture,  or  forest,  it  is  pro- 
vided that  no  one  shall  have  the  right  to  make  such  use  of  the 
land  if  some  villager  is  ready  and  willing  to  plough  the  land. 
"  Itjs  forbidden  to  offer  resistance  to  the  plough."  This  reg- 
ulaiion^is  likely  ^o_destroy  the  scattered  farms,  as  their 
pastures  and  meadows  are  broken  up  lor  arableTPresently 
restrictions  are  placed  upon  the  number  of  years  that  land 
may  be  left  fallow.  After  a  stated  interval  an  occupier  loses 
all  exclusive  rights  of  use,  and  the  land  may  be  ploughed  by 
any  villager.  Actual  allotments  of  land  to  the  poor  are  at  first 
made  from  the  estates  of  those  who  die  without  heirs,  or  from 
the  property  of  those  who  refuse  to  pay  the  village  taxes. 
Annual  allotment  of  the  land  is  reached  only  at  a  late  date. 
The  stages  of  development  which  Lewinski  traces  among 
the  peasants  of  Siberia  would  doubtless  represent  the  un- 
hindered operation  of  economic  forces.  At  the  Customs  of 
time  of  the  first  contacts  between  the  Romans  the  Germanic 
and  the  Germanic  tribes  the  annual  allotment  of 
village  lands  was  common  among  many  villages,  though  not 
universal.  The  passages  hi  Tacitus  which  refer  to  settle- 
ments in  scattered  farms  have  been  the  subject  of  much  con- 
troversy, and,  hi  the  opinion  of  some,  cast  doubt  upon  the 
description  of  the  practice  of  allotments  in  chapter  twenty- 
six.  It  is  peculiarly  unfortunate  that  the  text  is  so  corrupt 
that  no  undoubted  reading  can  be  given  for  this  latter  chap- 
ter, but  the  account  of  Tacitus  becomes  much  more  plausible 
in  all  respects  if  we  do  not  look  upon  this  matter  of  agricul- 
ture as  a  definitely  racial  custom.  If  we  anticipate  some  di- 
versity of  practice,  as  would  be  natural  among  tribes  whose 
economic  conditions  were  somewhat  different,  the  difficulties 
of  the  text  of  Tacitus  would  largely  disappear.  It  would 
seem  in  fact  that  the  Germanic  tribes  were  at  that  time  at 
a  stage  of  development  in  village  organization  roughly  com- 
parable to  that  of  the  various  tribes  in  Siberia  at  the  close 
of  the  past  century.  The  open-field  village  was  coming  to 


120  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

be  the  characteristic  feature  of  rural  life,  but  many  scattered 
farms  existed,  and  many  villages  were  really  in  an  interme- 
diate stage  of  development.  The  pressure  of  population  that 
is  deemed  to  be  a  motive  in  the  migrations  of  the  Teutonic 
tribes  would  be  consistent  with  such  a  development  of  organ- 
ized village  life  based  on  the  relative  scarcity  of  land.  In  so 
far  as  the  migration  involved  entire  tribes,  there  would  be 
every  reason  to  suppose  that  the  forms  of  village  organiza- 
tion would  not  be  greatly  changed  even  though  the  villagers 
were  to  find  a  relative  abundance  of  land  available.  The 
mode  of  social  organization  would  survive  despite  the  re- 
moval of  the  economic  pressure  that  had  been  the  cause  of 
its  development.  The  different  modes  of  village  life  of  Celts, 
Racial  dif-  Germans,  and  Romans  were  due  to  the  different 
ferences  economic  circumstances  of  their  life  prior  to  the 

great  migrations.  The  relegation  of  the  Celts  to  the  infertile 
districts  tended  to  perpetuate  modes  of  settlement  adapted 
to  the  needs  of  a  sparse  population.  Little  concentration  of 
population  was  possible,  so  that  no  elaborate  forms  of  village 
life  developed  until  a  late  period.  The  Celts  continued  to  live 
in  scattered  farms  and  hamlets,  not  so  much  because  they 
were  Celts  as  because  they  were  poor  people  living  in  an 
inhospitable  country.  The  Germans  brought  the  habits  of 
organized  village  life  to  the  fertile  sections  of  France  and 
England  and  the  development  of  rural  life  that  had  begun  in 
Germany  continued  without  serious  interruption. 

HI.  THE  COMMON  PEOPLE  AND  THE  MAGNATES 

The  forms  of  village  organization  are  not  in  themselves  an 
indication  of  the  general  structure  of  rural  society.  Society 
might  be  essentially  democratic  or  essentially  aristocratic, 
or  there  might  be  significant  changes  in  the  degree  of  social 
stratification.  The  legal  details  of  village  life  would  naturally 
be  somewhat  different  in  these  various  circumstances,  but  it 
is  not  necessary  to  assume  that  there  would  be  any  profound 

changes  in  the  system  of  agriculture  or  in  the  SU- 
Tlie  aristocracy  &.  B 

perficial  aspects  of  village  life.     By  the_twelfth 
and  thirteenth  centuries  aristocracy  had  become  a  funda-. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  121 

mental  f eature  of  Eng^sh  life.  The^^ggates  were  occu- 
^jjecTwith  military  and  administrative  functionsT  They  were 
maintained  partly  "by  the  produce  of  landed  estates  exploited 
in  their  behalf  by  the  villagers,  partly  by  produce  turned  over 
to  them  by  the  villagers.  The  existence  of  a  class  of  mae- 
nates  thus  presupposes  a  servile  class  or  classes;  some  per- 
sons entirely  deprived  of  personal  liberty,  others  enjoying  a 
qualified  freedom. 

The  social  organization  of  Britain,  as  of  Gaul,  during  the 
Roman  occupation  was  predominantly  aristocratic.  Rural 
life  was  dominated  by  the  great  landed  proprie-  The  Roman 
tors  whose  estates  (villas)  were  tilled  by  classes  system 
of  unfree  tenants.  The  estate  was  divided  into  two  portions: 
a  domain  exploited  directly  by  slaves  under  the  supervision 
of  the  agents  and  stewards  of  the  proprietor,  and  a  portion  let 
out  to  tenant  farmers  (coloni)  for  rents  payable  in  money  or 
in  kind.  Both  of  these  classes  of  unfree  tenants  exhibit  many 
varieties  of  condition:  there  were  various  degrees  of  per- 
sonal freedom  among  the  slaves  as  among  the  tenant  farmers. 
There  were  slaves  who  enjoyed  no  freedom  of  action  at  all, 
mere  members  of  the  gangs  of  ten  which  were  the  usual  unit 
in  the  working  of  the  estate.  There  were  other  slaves  who 
were  entrusted  with  a  small  holding  and  a  cottage,  so  that 
they  enjoyed  much  personal  liberty  in  the  details  of  their 
work  and  in  their  family  life.  The  tenant  farmers  were  free 
in  the  legal  sense  of  the  word,  but  they  were  bound  to  the 
soil.  They  were  not  allowed  to  leave  the  estate,  nor  per- 
mitted to  marry  any  one  dependent  upon  another  lord  or 
master.  The  obligations  of  the  tenant  farmers  were  vari- 
able in  many  details:  the  amount  of  rent  due  the  proprietor 
varied,  as  also  the  mode  of  payment.  Some  tenants,  who 
had  brought  new  land  into  cultivation,  were  required  merely 
to  continue  to  cultivate  their  holding.  Other  tenants  were 
obliged  to  pay  significant  rents. 

Some  elements  of  Roman  life  undoubtedly  .survived  thg 
Germanic  invasions.    The  sites  and  names  of  Extensive  sur- 
many  modern  French  villages  are   a  survival  vivai  unlikely 
from  Roman  times.   Roman  land  measures  and  field  ar- 


122  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

rangements  left  traces  in  both  Gaul  and  Britain.  But  there 
are  grave  doubts  of  any  general  survival  of  the  aristocratic 
structure  of  rural  life.  The  history  of  the  invasions  and  the 
conditions  subsequent  to  them  present  an  infinite  variety  of 
detail,  so  that  no  general  statements  can  wisely  be  made; 
it  would  seem  likely,  however,  that  the  rural  aristocracy  of 
Roman  times  disappeared  largely  if  not  completely,  and  it 
is  equally  probable  that  no  Germanic  aristocracy  succeeded 
immediately  to  such  a  dominant  position  in  social  life.  Ger- 
manic society  was  not  lacking  in  social  classifications  even 
at  the  time  of  the  invasions,  but  the  proportion  of  freemen 
was  large  and  the  actual  differences  in  wealth  much  less 
considerable  than  in  the  Roman  society  that  was  destroyed. 
The  invasions  no  doubt  increased  in  some  measure  the  power 
and  economic  importance  of  the  leaders,  but  it  is  unlikely 
that  the  magnates  among  the  invaders  acquired  complete 
predominance  in  any  short  period  of  time.  The  aristocratic 
structure  of  society  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries 
must  be  traced  primarily  to  the  influences  at  work  in  political 
and  social  life  among  the  Germanic  peoples.  The  aristo- 
cratic forms  of  the  later  period  were  not  borrowed  from  the 
Romans;  despite  many  resemblances,  they  were  the  product 
of  spontaneous  growth. 

The  need  of  military  protection  was  of  great  moment  in 
giving  larger  importance  to  the  magnates,  and  -the  incursions 
Growth  of  °f  t*16  Danes  exerted  a  profound  influence  upon 
a  military  •  the  development  of  Anglo-Saxon  institutions. 
The  increasing  solidarity  of  political  organiza- 
tion was  also  a  factor  of  great  importance.  The  formation  of 
a  strong  monarchy  practically  required  the  development  of 
an  aristocracy  possessed  of  administrative  as  well  as  mili- 
tary functions.  The  magnates  thus  became  the  chief  bond 
between  the  rural  village  and  the  larger  social  life  of  the  king- 
dom. The  aristocracy  was  a  means  of  securing  some  meas- 
ure of  centralization  in  a  social  structure  whose  ..essential 
principles  seemed  to  be  excessive  decentralization.  The 
change  in  the  character  of  social  life  is  concretely  expressed 
by  the  gradual  decline  of  dependence  upon  the  group  of  kins- 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  123 

men  and  a  corresponding  increase  in  the  reliance  upon  the 
protection  of  some  noble  patron  or  lord.  There  were  many 
motives  underlying  the  acceptance  of  qualified  freedom  by 
peasants^  who  were  originally  free  of  all  obligations  to  an  aris- 
tocracy; poverty,  loss  of  blood  kindred  by  violence,  displace- 
ments caused  by  Danish  incursions,  might  all  lead  to  the 
willing  acceptance  of  the  protection  of  a  lord.  We  have  not 
sufficient  information  to  trace  these  social  changes  in  any 
detail,  but  it  is  fairly  clear  that  the  growth  of  dependence 
uponjbhe  magnates  was  of  mutual  advantage ;  a  gain  to  the 
peasant  as  well  as  a  source  of  power  to  iEe  lord. 

The  drift  toward  manorial  organization  was  greatly  stimu- 
late^ by  the  changes  brought  about  by  the  Norman  Con- 
quest^ so  that  we  cannot  be  sure  how  far  back  we  The  origin  of 
can  wisely  carry  the  manor  as  we  come  to  know  the  manor 
it  immediately  after  the  Conquest.  It  is  certain,  however, 
that  the  structure  of  society  in  the  eleventh  century  is  not 
wholly  the  work  of  the  Normans.  The  mass  of  material 
furnished  by  the  Domesday  Survey  tends  to  give  conditions 
at  the  close  of  the  eleventh  century  a  somewhat  dispropor- 
tionate place  in  history,  and  the  slow  development  of  the 
Saxon  period  is  just  beginning  to  be  fully  appreciated. 
Domesday  Book,  however,  affords  abundant  evidence  of  the 
existence  of  the  main  features  of  the  aristocratic  society  that 
reached  the  height  of  its  power  in  the  thirteenth  century. 
The  enumeration  of  the  population  was  not  comprehensive 
but  it  seems  to  have  been  designed  to  include  the  heads  of 
families  and  servants  attached  to  the  households  of  persons 
of  consequence.  The  results  of  the  enumeration  must  show 
approximately  the  proportions  of  the  different  classes  of 
society. 

In  England  as  a  whole,  society  had  thus  become  notably 
aristocratic:  the  mass  of  the  population  were  unfree,  and, 
though  the  tenant  farmers  are  presumed  to  have  Dependent 
held  sufficient  land  to  guarantee  some  measure  classes 
of  economic  independence,  they  were  none  the  less  required 
to  make  some  contribution  to  the  affluence  and  magnificence 
of  the  great  feudal  establishments.  The  crofters  (bordarii  and 


124  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

PER  CENT  OF  PERSONS  ENUMERATED  IN  EACH  CLASS  TO  THE  TOTAL 
POPULATION  ENUMERATED  IN  DOMESDAY  BOOK:  1086* 

Base  tenures  —  Per  cejit 

Serfs  (servi)  .....................................................      9. 

Crofters  (bordarii  and  cottarii)  ..................................     31.5 

Tenant  farmers  (viUani)  ........................................     38. 

Total  base  tenures  ........................................     78.5 

Honorable  tenures  — 
Yeoman  farmers  (soc-men  and  freemen)  .........................      12. 

Tenants  in  chief  and  mesne  lords  ...............................        3.5 

Enumerated  persons  not  included  in  the  above  classification  .........       6. 

100.0 

*Inman:  Feudal  Statistics,  2. 


cottarii)  were  persons  who  had  some  land,  five  or  ten  acres 
at  the  most,  but  not  enough  to  occupy  their  full  time  nor  to 
provide  sufficiently  for  their  families.  They  worked  on  the 
lord's  estate  and  received  pay  in  kind.  The  dependence  of 
these  servile  classes  upon  the  lord  was  real,  but  it  is  not 
necessary  to  presume  that  their  economic  condition  was  in- 
tolerable. The  jeomanjarmers  had  at  least  sufficient  land  to 
afford  their  f  amity  adequlj£e"pro  vision,  they  were  all  economi- 
cally independent;  thejreemen  were  in  addition  legally  in- 
dependent, looking  to  the  King's  courts  for  justice;  the  soc- 
men  were  required  to  attend  some  manorial  court  and  thus 
subject  to  the  payment  of  certain  legal  fees  to  a  manorial  lord. 
In  this  aristocratic  system  that  was  growing  up  the  unit 
of  rural  organization  was  the  manor:  .a  person  might  hold 
several  manors,  and  the  ecclesiastical  corpora- 
tions held  large  numbers  of  them,  but  in  such 
cases  the  manors  retained  their  administrative  and  legal  in- 
dividuality. Ordinarily  the  manor  consisted  of  a  residence 
and  farm  utilized  by  the  lord  of  the  manor,  together  with  a 
mass  of  peasant  holdings.  There  was  usually  an  organized 
village,  but  the  village  need  not  be  exclusively  inhabited  by 
persons  depending  on  the  manor.  The  holdings  of  freemen 
might  be  intermingled  in  the  village  fields  with  the  strips 
belonging  to  the  lord's  farm  and  the  strips  held  by  the  lord's 
tenants.  The  complexities  of  the  legal  organization  of  rural 
life  are  in  large  measure  due  to  the  lack  of  precise  correlation 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  125 

of  the  various  categories.  Fiscal  terminology  does  not  quite 
correspond  to  legal  terminology,  and  legal  terminology  does 
not  entirely  correspond  to  the  groupings  of  the  population  in 
villages  and  hamlets.  This  lack  of  correspondence  between 
the  various  aspects  of  social  organization  leads  to  no  little 
diversity  of  meanings  in  connection  with  the  term  manor. 
"The  prevalent  meaning,"  says  Vinogradoff,  "is  that  of  an 
estfltajpr  district  of  which  the  central  house  is  the  hall." 
It  would  seem  that  an  attempt  had  been  made  in  the  Saxon 
period  to  substitute  estates  of  four  or  five  hides  (presumed  to 
be  equivalent  to  480  to  600  acres)  held  by  thanes  for  a  quan- 
tity of  small  freehold  tenements.  The  revenue  presumed  to 
be  derived  from  such  an  estate  would  correspond  to  property 
units  that  were  used  in  calculating  military  obligations. 
The  conception  of  the  manor  was  thus  influenced  by  fiscal 
and  military  policies  which  made  it  desirable  to  create  ap- 
pearances of  uniformity  which  did  not  exist. 

Actual  manors,  as  they  appear  in  Domesday,  do  not  often  con- 
form to  these  averages,  and  present  a  variety  of  different  types 
which  must  be  examined  separately  if  we  want  to  _ 

.  .    .  , ,        *i  ,       .   .          .   Principal  types 

form  an  opinion  as  to  the  character  and  origins  of 
manorial  institutions.  They  may  be  arranged  very  roughly  in  the 
following  five  classes;  with  a  good  many  subdivisions  and  inter- 
mediate shades  between  them.  The  grouping  would  be  somewhat 
as  follows:  the  manor  as  a  capitalistic  organization,  an  economic 
center  surrounded  by  peasant  holdings  supporting  it;  the  manor 
as  an  administrative  center  of  scattered  and  more  or  less  independ- 
ent settlements;  the^soke,  a  center  of  jurisdictional  and  tributary 
organization:  royal  manors;  small  estates  exploited  directly  by 
their  masters  or  rustics.1 

These  types  will  perhaps  be  more  readily  perceived  if 
some  of  the  descriptions  in  Domesday  Book  are  given.  An 
example  of  the  capitalistic  manor  may  be  found  in  Bedford- 
shire, the  manor  of  Segenehou.  Two  fifths  of  this  manor, 
four  hides,  was  reckoned  as  the  lord's  farm;  assuming  the 
ploughlands  to  be  120  acres,  this  would  mean  a  demesne  farm 
of  480  acres.  The  rest  of  the  manor,  720  acres,  was  occupied 
by  tenants:  24  villein  households,  4  crofter  households,  and 
1  Vinogradoff,  P.:  English  Society  in  the  Eleventh  Century,  311. 


126  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

3  serfs.  Formerly,  there  had  been  one  soc-man  on  the  manor, 
holding  60  acres,  but  he  had  disappeared.  The  medium- 
sized  manors  were  usually  of  this  type,  and  hi  such  cases 
there  was  real  interdependence  between  the  lord's  farm  and 
the  peasant  holdings.  In  the  very  large  estates,  belonging 
to  the  wealthiest  magnates  and  to  monastic  houses,  the  home 
farm  tends  to  become  entirely  subordinate  to  the  peasant 
holdings.  The  revenue  of  such  an  estate  was  derived  from 
tribute  and  from  assignments  to  the  lord  of  portions  of  the 
produce  of  the  peasants. 

When  the  manor  was  merely  an  administrative  organiza- 
tion this  subordination  of  the  lord's  farm  to  the  peasant 
Administrative  holdings  was  even  more  marked.  A  royal 
manors  manor  of  Mansfield,  Notts,  is  fairly  representa- 

tive. This  consisted  of  a  central  manor  with  outlying  por- 
tions. The  central  portion  consisted  of  a  demesne  farm  and 
peasant  holdings,  but  barely  one  tenth  of  the  total  area  lay 
in  the  lord's  farm.  There  were,  besides,  twenty-seven  settle- 
ments attached  to  the  manor  for  purposes  of  taxation,  and 
in  none  of  these  outlying  portions  was  there  any  land  that 
constituted  a  demesne  farm.  "We  are  clearly  in  a  district 
of  scattered  homesteads,"  says  Vinogradoff,  "inhabited  by 
small  farmers  paying  dues  to  the  central  court  at  Mansfield, 
and  possibly  performing  some  services  for  it."  When  the 
manor  became  primarily  a  center  of  political  and  legal  obliga- 
tions this  relationship  between  the  central  nucleus  and  the 
appendages  was  strikingly  emphasized.  Thus,  the  manor 
of  Bolingbroke  in  Lincolnshire  had  a  demesne  farm  of  240 
acres,  subordinate  holdings  hi  the  immediate  locality  for  12 
soc-men,  12  villeins,  and  8  crofters;  as  an  economic  center, 
it  was  only  of  moderate  size.  Its  jurisdiction  extended  over 
17  places  and  529  soc-men  were  under  obligation  to  attend 
the  manorial  court.  The  income  from  the  manor  must 
therefore  have  been  derived  chiefly  from  fines  collected  in 
the  court.  The  royal  manors  exhibit  all  these  features,  but 
also  some  special  features,  but  these  matters  are  hardly  of 
moment  in  an  introductory  survey  of  rural  organization.  The 
very  small  manors  are  likewise  a  problem  for  the  erudite. 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  127 

IV.  THE  ORGANIZATION  OF  THE  MANOR  IN  THE 
THIRTEENTH  AND  FOURTEENTH  CENTURIES 

The  general  aspect  of  the  typical  manor  is  presented  in  the 
representative  plan  shown  below.    The  common  fields,  com- 


iPiffateri  holding  in  the  (Zfnmon,  Tiefis^/^ 


128  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

mon  pasture,  and  waste  were  the  persistent  features  of  the 
Aspects  of  rural  landscape.  The  demesne  farm  would  not, 
the  manor  jjj  the_eari^  period,"  consist  oTa  solid  block  of 
land;  it  lay  in  stripslnthe  common  fields  intermingled with 
the  holdings  of  the  peasants.  Later  it  was  brought  together 
in  the  compact  mass  represented  in  the  map.  The  separa- 
tion of  the  village  from  the  cottages  of  the  crofters  is  wholly 
typical,  and  the  manorial  mill  likewise.  The  wind-mill  that 
stands  by  itself  in  the  waste  cannot  readily  be  brought 
within  the  scope  of  normal  manorial  organization.  The  lord 
of  the  manor  had  the  right  to  compel  the  tenants  of  the  estate 
to  use  his  mill,  but  he  seldom  indulged  in  the  luxury  of  two 
mills  and  never  long  permitted  any  one  to  infringe  upon  his 
monopoly  of  milling. 

The  economic  organization  of  the  manor  was  designed  to 
provide  for  the  exploitation  of  the  lord's  farm  by  the  labor 
services  rendered  by  the  tenants.  For  purposes 
organization  °f  definition  of  the  obligations  of  the  tenants 
the  labor  services  were  divided  into  two  main 
classes :  the  week  works,  an  obligation  to  work  two  or  three 
days  each  week  under  the  supervision  of  the  lord's  bailiff;  the 
boon  days,  supplementary  services  rendered  chiefly  in  connec- 
tion with  ploughing  and  harvesting.  Villeins  were  required 
to  render  service  of  both  types,  and  freemen  were  usually 
supposed  to  grant  the  lord  certain  boon  days.  In  addition 
to  these  services  various  kinds  of  work  were  required  of 
cottagers;  blacksmithing,  carpenter  work,  holding  the  lord's 
plough,  herding  the  sheep,  were  characteristically  the  tasks 
of  persons  not  engaged  in  tilling  a  thirty-acre  holding:  one 
may  look  upon  the  cottagers,  or  crofters,  as  servants  who 
have  been  given  some  measure  of  personal  independence  or 
as  villagers  who  have  lost  their  economic  independence.  It 
is  probably  more  correct  to  look  upon  these  cottagers  as  a 
class  of  servants  living  in  independent  houses,  though  some 
of  them  become  relatively  independent  village  craftsmen. 

The  various  classes  of  dependents  on  the  estates  of  mano- 
rial lords  were  graded  into  a  hierarchy  with  reference  to  the 
degree  of  subjection  to  the  lord's  pleasure.  The  cottagers 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  129 

were  presumed  to  be  under  obligation  to  render  such  service 
as  they  were  bidden  to  perform;  their  full  time  obligations 
was  their  lord's,  though  it  is  likely  that  they  of  tenants 
were  left  considerable  opportunity  to  work  small  garden 
plots.  The  villeins  were  under  obligation  to  render  defi- 
nitely limited  services.  The  stigma  of  villeinage  attached  to 
the  uncertainty  of  each  day's  work;  the  villein  was  never  able 
to  know  what  the  morrow  would  bring  forth,  he  must  needs 
perform  the  task  set  him  by  the  officers  of  the  lord,  provided 
that  the  quantity  of  work  required  did  not  exceed  the  con- 
ditions defined  by  his  tenure.  The  freeman,  under  obliga- 
tion to  furnish  merely  certain  boon  works,  escaped  the  taint 
of  servile  dependence  upon  the  orders  of  the  lord.  The 
burden  of  the  general  farm-work  thus  fell  upon  the  tenant 
farmers,  persons  holding  twenty  or  thirty  acres  by  some  form 
of  unfree  tenure.  Serfdom  was  not  a  prominent  feature  of 
English  village  life,  so  that  references  to  the  position  of  serfs 
are  not  abundant.  It  would  seem  that  the  distinctive  feature 
of  serfdom  lay  in  the  character  of  the  tenure  rather  than  the 
size  of  the  holding. 

The  supervision  of  these  labor  services  was  a  considerable 
task  so  that  certain  administrative  officers  were  essential. 
The  affairs  of  the  lord  were  in  the  hands  of  two  officials  of 
officers,  the  steward  and  the  bailiff.  The  stew-  the  lord 
ard  was  charged  with  legal  arid  financial  business :  he  held 
the  manor  court,  or  leet,  attended  to  all  matters  connected 
with  the  tenures  of  the  villagers  and  their  financial  obliga- 
tions to  the  lord.  The  steward  also  supervised  the  market, 
if  the  lord  had  the  privilege  of  holding  market.  There  was 
always  the  mill  to  manage.  The  steward  exercised  some 
supervision  over  the  general  arrangement  of  the  fields  of  the 
demesne  farm,  but  he  was  not  concerned  with  any  details  of 
farm  management.  The  management  of  the  farm  was  in  the 
hands  of  the  bailiff  and  the  hayward :  the  former  had  charge 
of  general  arrangements  of  culture;  the  latter,  oversight  of 
the  woods,  cereal  crops,  and  meadows.  The  hajward's  func- 
tions were  thus  pretty  extensive.  The  organization  of  har- 
vesting was  his  work.  The  supervision  of  fences  around  the 


130  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

arable  to  keep  cattle  out  during  the  growing  season,  and  the 
impounding  of  stray  cattle,  also  fell  to  his  lot. 

Coordinate  hi  importance  with  these  officers  of  the  lord 
was  the  village  reeve.  He  was  elected  by  the  villagers  to 
__.„  ,  direct  the  general  agricultural  operations  of  the 

Village  officers  °  .r 

village,  and  all  details  concerning  the  manage- 
ment of  the  fields.  The  bailiff  was  supposed  to  keep  an  eye 
upon  the  reeve,  but  in  actual  fact  the^ee^g  was  quite  as 
important  as  the  bailiff  from  the  point  of  view  of  village  life. 
The  yiljage_constable  was  also  elected  by  the  villagers,  and 
the  inspection  of  bread  was  carried  out  by  persons  chosen  by 
^  the  villagers  assembled  in  the  court  leet.  There  were  thus 
some  elements  of  democracy  in  the  organization  of  the  manor. 
The  legal  organization  of  the  manor  implies  that  each 
anor  was  a  substantially  independent  unit  of  social  life, 
and,  in  the  early  period,  this  may  have  been  generally  true. 
The  growth  of  commerce,  however,  and  the  increase  in  the 
concentration  of  wealth  led  to  the  grouping  of  manors  and 
ultimately  subordinated  the  manor  to  commercial  contacts 
with  the  market  that  destroyed  the  close  interdependence 
between  the  household  of  the  manorial  lord  and  the  labor 
services  of  the  tenants. 

By  the  thirteenth  century  there  were  three  classes  of 
manors:  manors  which  were  essentially  independent,' manors 
Collection  of  which  belonged  to  a  monastic  house  thus  f  orm- 
the  income  mg  par^  Q£  a  iarge  group  which  sent  their  prod- 
ucts to  the  monastery,  manors  which  belonged  to  some  great 
noble  or  bishop  who  would  find  it  convenient  to  perambulate 
the  country  with  his  household  to  consume  on  each  manor 
the  surplus  available  for  his  maintenance.  In  this  last  type 
the  manor  was  merely  a  source  of  income  for  a  non-resident- 
magnate.  It  was  sound  feudal  theory  that  each  lord  should 
live  on  the  proceeds  of  his  estates,  and  for  a  time  this  was 
literally  done.  The  tenants  were  under  obligation  to  render 
services  in  carting  and  hauling  so  that  the  products  of  the 
demesne  farm  could  be  concentrated  in  some  central  place. 
In  so  far  as  the  manors  were  the  property  of  monastic  houses, 
it  was  essential  that  the  produce  should  thus  be  sent  to  the 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  131 

central  establishment.  Perambulation  of  the  group  of 
manors  was  somewhat  more  economical,  but  both  of  these 
methods  of  collecting  the  revenues  were  inconvenient.  The 
possessions  of  individual  proprietors  were  widely  scattered, 
and  it  was  really  less  convenient  to  collect  the  rents  in  kind 
than  to  collect  them  in  money  with  which  supplies  could  be 
£H£h?^d J!iLSiL?earest  mapket.  The  period  1250-1500  is 
marked  by  a  gradual  transition  toward  conver-  , 

«7        °  Commutation 

sion  of  labor  dues  into  money  rents,  and  toward 
an  abandonment  of  the  demesne  farm.  It  became  more 
profitable  to  let  out  the  demesne  farm.  The  surplus  grain  of 
each  village  came  gradually  to  be  sold  in  the  nearest  market 
and  the  great  households  became  purchasers  in  the  market. 
The  connection  between  non-resident  lords  and  their  manors 
thus  became  more  exclusively  financial,  and  the  villagers  be- 
came more  nearly  tenant  farmers  whose  only  obligation  to 
their  lord  was  the  payment  of  a  money  rent.  The  rise  of  the 
local  market  thus  tended  to  destroy  the  characteristic  eco- 
nomic features  of  the  manor  almost  as  soon  as  the  legal 
features  of  the  manor  began  to  assume  definite  outline.  Be- 
fore 1500  the~manor  ceased  to  be  of  any  vital  significance  in 
the  economic  organization  of  England,  though  the  court  leet 
long  remained  a  notable  feature  of  village  life. 

V.  THE  END  OF  VILLEINAGE  IN  ENGLAND 

The  transition  from  labor  services  and  payments  in  kind 
to  payment  of  rents  in  money,  that  proved  to  be  a  primary 
cause  of  the  decline  of  the  manorial  economy,  exerted  a  pro- 
found influence  upon  the  status  of  the  tenant  farmers.    The 
distinction  between  free  tenure  and  villein  tenure  was  greatly 
diminished  even  by  a  moderate  commutation  of  labor  serv- 
ices into  money  dues,  and  when  all  obligations  had  been 
translated  into  money  the  only  remaining  difference  lay  in  the 
nature  of  the  record  of  the  title  to  the  holding.    A  freeholder 
theoretically  held  his  own  title-deeds;  the  trans-  The  rise  of 
formed  villein  could  at  best  show  nothing  more  the  free 
than  a  copy  of  the  records  of  the  court  leet.    His  p 
tenure  was  no  longer  subject  to  the  lord's  will,  but  from  a 


132  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

legal  point  of  view  it  was  in  many  ways  inferior  to  a  freehold 
title.  The  last  vestiges  of  this  copyhold  tenure  have  not  yet 
been  entirely  swept  away,  though  the  legislation  of  the  late 
nineteenth  century  leaves  little  but  the  name. 

The  study  of  the  passing  of  villeinage  is  still  far  from  com- 
plete. In  the  past  it  has  been  approached  almost  exclusively 
Mutual  ad-  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  villein.  The  re- 
vantages  searches  of  Professor  Gras  in  the  field  of  market 
organization  have  disclosed  motives  that  are  so  definitely 
advantageous  to  the  lord  that  it  would  seem  likely  that  the 
transformation  was  less  exclusively  a  conquest  of  freedom 
by  the  villeins  than  has  been  assumed.  The  history  of  the 
rise  out  of  villeinage  would  thus  seem  to  be  more  than  a  chap- 
ter in  the  struggle  for  liberty  in  which  the  privileged  classes 
are  presumed  to  play  merely  an  obstructive  role.  It  is 
wholly  probable  that  there  should  be  much  friction  in  a 
period  of  re-definition  of  obligations.  The  lord  would  watch 
his  revenues  with  solicitude;  the  villagers  would  similarly  try 
to  utilize  the  occasion  to  pare  down  their  obligations.  The 
attempt  to  convert  somewhat  uncertain  rights  to  service  into 
precise  equivalents  in  money  must  inevitably  have  created 
much  difficulty,  and  no  little  tension;  and  yet,  on  the  whole, 
both  lord  and  tenant  found  a  vital  interest  in  the  transition 
to  a  system  of  money  payments. 

Studies  in  the  manorial  records  have  thrown  some  light 
upon  the  chronology  of  the  movement.  It  appears  that  little 
influence  of  progress  had  been  made  toward  the  new  order 
the  Black  prior  to  the  Black  Death,  and  it  seems  equally 
certain  that  the  disorganization  of  rural  life  by 
that  pestilence  exerted  a  profound  influence  upon  the  organi- 
zation of  the  manor.  Many  tenants  died  of  the  plague,  and 
many  bailiffs.  It  was  less  easy  to  maintain  the  old  customs. 
Sometimes  the  demesne  was  diminished  in  extent  because  it 
was  difficult  to  keep  it  under  cultivation  as  a  unit.  Some- 
times it  was  necessary  to  attract  new  tenants  by  making 
more  favorable  leases.  For  many  reasons  commutation  be- 
came increasingly  common  in  the  generation  following  the 
Black  Death.  The  relation  of  the  peasant  rising  in  1381  to 


VILLAGE  AND  MANOR  133 

the  rise  out  of  villeinage  is  as  yet  uncertain.  The  social  back- 
ground is  still  a  matter  of  controversy,  as  well  as  the  details 
of  the  revolt.  By  1400,  however,  commutation  of  rents  was 
more  common  than  the  exaction  of  the  old  labor  services, 
and  toward  the  latter  part  of  the  fifteenth  century  the  old 


system  was  exceptional. 

The  social  position  of  the  villeins  thus  became  substan- 
tially similar  to  that  of  the  small  freeholders,  the  independent 
peasant  proprietors  who  are  usually  spoken  of  as 
the  forty-shilling  free-holders,  or  yeomen.  The 
aristocratic  structure  of  society  persisted,  but  the  power  of 
the  aristocracy  was  tempered  by  the  presence  of  this  large 
number  of  peasant  cultivators  who  had  become  substan- 
tially, if  not  technically,  independent.  Nearly  half  of  the  rural 
population  must  have  been  included  hi  this  class  of  yeomen 
farmers,  as  augmented  by  the  emancipation  of  the  villeins 
from  their  precarious  services.  Many  other  rustics  who  did 
not  have  sufficient  land  to  afford  them  full  maintenance 
were  rendered  independent  by  the  returns  from  craft  work. 
The  artisans  in  town  and  country  must  have  constituted  a 
numerous  class,  and  there  is  perhaps  ground  for  presuming 
that  between  one  half  and  two  thirds  of  the  population  were 
economically  independent.  There  were  wage-earners  both 
in  the  crafts  and  in  agriculture,  but  it  was  unusual  for  any  to 
remain  wage-earners  permanently.  The  social  ladder  was 
intact,  and  the  diligent  might  reasonably  expect  to  achieve 
independence  in  agriculture  or  in  industry. 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS 


THE  interpretation  of  the  economic  history  of  the  middle 
ages  has  been  dominated  in  great  measure  by  the  conception 
of  the  "town  economy"  developed  by  Schmoller,  Ashley, 
Biicher,  and  other  writers  of  that  generation. 

Each  town  [says  Schmoller,  in  his  famous  essay  on  the  Mercan- 
tile System],  and  especially  each  of  the  larger  towns,  seeks  to  shut 
The  town  itself  up  to  itself  as  an  economic  whole,  and  at  the 

economy  same  time,  in  its  relation  to  the  outside  world,  to 

extend  the  sphere  of  its  influence,  both  economic  and  political, 
as  far  as  possible.  It  is  not  without  significance  that,  during  a 
considerable  period  of  ancient  and  medieval  history,  all  complete 
political  structures  were  city  states,  in  which  political  and  economic 
life,  local  economic  selfishness  and  political  patriotism,  political 
conflict  and  economic  rivalry,  all  coincided.  The  economic  pol- 
icy of  the  German  towns  of  the  middle  ages,  and  their  economic 
institutions,  have  played  a  controlling  part  in  German  life  down 
to  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries;  they  project  them- 
selves, so  to  speak,  in  so  many  directions,  into  our  own  time,  that 
we  must  pause  a  moment  to  speak  of  them  more  at  length. 

Not  only  separate  jurisdiction,  but  also  the  right  of  holding  a 
market,  of  collecting  tolls,  and  of  coining  money,  were,  from  early 
times,  the  privileges  of  growing  urban  communities.  This  ex- 
ceptional position  was  strengthened  by  the  abolition  of  payments 
and  services  in  kind,  as  well  as  by  the  principle  that  "town  air 
makes  free";  and  finally,  by  the  conquest  of  the  right  of  self- 
government  and  legislation  by  the  town  council.  Each  separate 
town  felt  itself  to  be  a  privileged  community,  gaining  right  after 
right  by  struggles  kept  up  for  hundreds  of  years,  and  forcing  its 
way  into  one  political  and  economical  position  after  another.  .  .  . 

Market  rights,  toll  rights,  and  mile  rights  are  the  weapons  with 
which  the  town  creates  for  itself  both  revenue  and  a  municipal 
Municipal  policy.  The  soul  of  that  policy  is  the  putting  of 
selfishness  fellow  citizens  at  an  advantage,  and  of  competitors 
from  the  outside  at  a  disadvantage.  The  whole  complicated  sys- 
tem of  regulations  as  to  markets  and  forestalling  is  nothing  but  a 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  135 

contrivance  so  to  regulate  supply  and  demand  between  the  towns- 
man who  buys  and  the  countryman  who  sells,  that  the  former  may 
find  himself  in  a  position  as  favorable  as  possible,  the  latter  as  un- 
favorable as  possible,  in  the  business  of  bargaining.  .  .  .  The  whole 
well-rounded  law  as  to  strangers  or  "foreigners"  was  an  instrument 
wherewith  to  destroy,  or,  at  all  events,  to  diminish  the  superiority 
of  richer  and  more  skilful  competitors  from  outside.  Except  during 
a  fair,  the  foreigner  was  excluded  from  all  retail  trade,  allowed  to 
remain  only  a  certain  time  and  prohibited  from  lending  money  to 
or  entering  into  partnership  with  a  burgess.  ...  In  short,  the  town 
market  formed  a  complete  system  of  currency,  credit,  trade,  tolls, 
and  finance,  shut  up  in  itself  and  managed  as  a  united  whole  and 
on  a  settled  plan;  a  system  which  found  its  center  of  gravity  exclu- 
sively in  its  local  interests,  which  carried  on  the  struggle  for  eco- 
nomic advantages  with  its  collective  forces,  and  which  prospered  in 
proportion  as  the  reins  were  firmly  held  by  prudent  and  energetic 
merchants  and  patricians  able  to  grasp  the  whole  situation.1 

This  interpretation  of  municipal  policy  contains  many 
brilliant  half-truths;  the  various  aspects  of  political  and 
economic  policy  cited  in  proof  of  the  inter-  superficiality 
pretation  are  indeed  a  faithful  reflection  of  the  of  the  idea 
ordinances  and  the  provisions  of  the  charters.  But  these 
provisions  have  been  read  literally  in  a  narrow  legal  spirit. 
Little  care  has  been  taken  to  seek  the  vital  significance  of 
these  regulations  in  the  economic  and  political  life  of  the 
medieval  period.  The  sinister  influence  of  municipal  author- 
ity in  the  later  period  has  been  reflected  back  to  the  earlier 
period  in  which  these  institutions  arose. 

Literal  interpretation  of  the  legal  documents  of  the  middle 
ages  is  peculiarly  dangerous.  It  was  a  period  of  intense 
formalism:  a  formalism  so  rigid  that  few  rules  could  be  car- 
ried out  to  the  letter.  Furthermore,  the  emphasis  on  form 
rather  than  content  created  an  attitude  of  mind  that  was 
particularly  open  to  legal  fictions  and  evasions  of  many  kinds. 
The  political  organization  of  the  general  community  was 
highly  complex:  there  were  many  overlapping  jurisdictions, 
interwoven  in  such  a  manner  that  acts  prohibited  in  one  set 
of  regulations  were  protected  and  guaranteed  by  regulations 
of  a  coordinate  jurisdiction.  The  difficulty  of  visualizing 
1  Schmoller,  G.:  The  Mercantile  System  (New  York,  1910),  6  ff. 


136  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  entire  structure  of  this  social  organization  tempts  us  to 
isolate  the  problems  that  are  most  nearly  comparable  to  our 
own,  and,  while  this  method  leads  to  results,  it  seldom  fur- 
nishes an  accurate  representation  of  medieval  life.  The 
municipal  constitutions  tended,  in  practically  all  portions  of 
medieval  Europe,  to  raise  obstacles  to  commercial  develop- 
Theenfran-  nient,  but  the  traders  found  a  larger  freedom 
chisement  of  than  would  have  been  possible  within  the  limits 
of  the  municipal  constitutions  in  the  fairs,  in 
the  special  privileges  obtained  by  great  trading  companies, 
and  in  the  development  of  a  Law  Merchant  enforced  by 
special  courts.  Writers  upon  constitutional  history  have 
been  constantly  aware  of  this  vigorous  development  of  mer- 
cantile privileges,  but  to  them  these  privileges  and  arrange- 
ments are  exceptions;  exceptions  because  the  municipal 
organization  is  presumed  to  be  the  primary  legal  background. 
The  merits  of  the  legal  question  need  not  be  argued  at 
length,  but  it  would  seem  safe  to  say  that  these  different 
masses  of  law  and  privilege  were  at  least  of  coordinate  im- 
portance during  the  medieval  period. 

It  is  difficult  for  us  to  realize  that  trade  could  flourish 
upon  the  basis  of  such  a  mass  of  special  privileges  as  were 
Adequacy  of  characteristic  of  the  middle  ages,  and  it  would 
the  privileges  indeed  be  impossible  to  maintain  the  continuity 
of  trade  or  to  transact  the  volume  of  business  that  charac- 
terizes modern  commerce.  It  is  essential  to  remember  that 
medieval  trade  was  after  all  comparatively  small  in  volume; 
confined  to  a  small  number  of  commodities  in  any  given 
region,  and  periodic  rather  than  continuous.  The  great 
staple  commodities  found  a  market  that  was  spatially  ex- 
tensive. From  a  very  early  date  the  various  countries  of 
western  Europe  and  the  Mediterranean  world  were  engaged 
in  systematic  trade.  The  territorial  extent  of  the  market 
for  most  products  is  frequently  underestimated.  Textile 
districts,  woolens,  linens,  and  silks;  metal  districts;  leather 
districts;  regions  producing  spices,  drugs,  and  dye-stuffs 
became  distinct  as  early  as  the  twelfth  century,  and  this 
geographical  division  of  labor  became  the  basis  of  an  active 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  137 

commerce  that  was  as  truly  "world-commerce"  as  the  com- 
merce of  to-day.  The  known  world  was  smaller,  but  the 
commerce  of  the  time  included  practically  all  parts  of  the 
known  world.  This  trade  was  not  in  any  vital  sense  depend- 
ent upon  rights  of  trading  in  the  towns  as  municipalities. 
The  fairs  were  the  primary  basis  of  the  distribution  of  these 
basic  commodities  throughout  Europe,  and  these  fairs,  or- 
ganized with  more  or  less  elaboration,  constituted  a  vast 
trading  community  that  was  international  in  The  trading 
structure  as  hi  its  legal  rules  and  procedure.  community 
The  fair  charters  were  thus  the  guarantees  of  commercial 
freedom,  just  as  the  municipal  charters  were  the  bulwarks  of 
political  freedom.  Little  by  little  the  bond  of  union  between 
trade  and  the  towns  became  closer,  and,  in  the  end,  the  spe- 
cial franchises  of  the  traders  became  a  part  of  the  municipal 
constitution.  The  nature  and  degree  of  this  assimilation  of 
these  two  types  of  franchises  differed  widely  in  the  various 
European  countries.  In  France  and  in  England  the  munici- 
pal constitution  came  to  be  relatively  favorable  to  the  trader, 
and  the  older,  more  special  organization  of  commerce  re- 
ceded into  the  background.  In  Germany,  most  especially 
in  Prussia,  municipal  selfishness  maintained  itself  longer  as 
a  substantial  fact,  so  that  the  fairs  remained  an  essential 
feature  of  commercial  life  down  to  modern  times. 

The  constitutional  history  of  municipalities  is  thus  distinct 
from  the  economic  history  of  the  organization  of  commerce 
and  the  growth  of  commercial  towns.  It  is  particularly 
necessary  to  avoid  identifying  the  rise  of  municipal  freedom 
with  the  rise  of  commercial  freedom.  These  developments 
were  closely  related  and  each  exerted  important  influences 
upon  the  other,  but  for  a  long  period  these  matters  can  best 
be  treated  as  distinct  episodes  in  the  development  of  urban 
life. 

II.  FAIRS  AND  THE  LAW  MERCHANT 

The  fair  is  not  sharply  distinguished  from  the  market, 
though  its  functions  and  organization  are  different  hi  many 
respects.  The  German  phrase  "Jahrmarkt"  indicates  the 


138  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

close  association  of  the  underlying  ideas:  the  fair  was  a  kind 
Markets  and  of  market  held  at  less  frequent  intervals  and 
fairs  for  £ne  purpose  of  transacting  a  different  kind 

of  business.  The  market  was  concerned  with  supplying  the 
necessities  of  life,  serving  primarily  as  a  bond  between  town 
and  country.  It  was  the  basis  of  such  interchange  of  primary 
products  as  was  necessary  among  specialized  craft-workers 
and  the  agricultural  members  of  the  community.  Even  in 
email  towns  and  villages  the  market  was  held  each  week.  The 
fair  was  a  similar  organization  designed  to  maintain  some 
connection  between  the  town  or  village  and  the  outside  world. 
As  the  dependence  upon  such  trading  connections  was  slight 
it  was  usually  possible  to  meet  these  needs  by  holding  one  fair 
each  year.  The  fair  was  usually  associated  with  some  church 
festival  of  general  or  local  importance.  Easter  week,  Saint 
John's  Day,  Trinity,  and  All  Saints  were  common  dates  for 
fairs.  The  feast  of  the  patron  saint  of  the  town  or  monastery 
was  the  most  usual  choice  when  the  date  was  based  upon 
purely  local  considerations. 

Fairs  of  purely  local  significance  seldom  lasted  more  than 

one  day,  and  the  majority  of  fairs  were  of  this  type.  It  is 

not  always  possible  to  distinguish  grants  of  fairs 

Their  number  '*..«••«  »     t  j  •       • 

from  grants  of  the  right  to  hold  a  market,  for  it 
was  usual  to  combine  the  right  to  hold  an  annual  fair  with  the 
right  to  hold  a  market.  The  Committee  on  Market  Rights 
and  Tolls  reported  the  following  numbers  of  grants:  for  the 
thirteenth  century  3300;  for  the  fourteenth  century  1560; 
for  the  fifteenth  century  down  to  1482,  100;  a  total  of  4960 
fairs  and  markets  granted  and  probably  existing  at  the  close 
of  the  fifteenth  century.  The  kingdom  was  thus  provided 
with  a  very  substantial  mechanism  for  the  maintenance  of 
commercial  contacts.  The  trader  was  by  necessity  of  the 
case  a  traveler,  in  most  instances  accomplishing  a  fairly 
definite  circuit  each  year,  for  the  generous  distribution  of 
fairs  throughout  the  year  made  it  possible  to  arrange  rea- 
sonably continuous  circuits. 

The  fair,  however,  was  not  merely  a  basis  for  the  retail  dis- 
tribution of  the  primary  imports :  the  wholesale  trade  in  the 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS 


139 


The  great  fairs 


great  staples  of  foreign  commerce  was  likewise  carried  on 
in  fairs.  Particular  fairs  came  to  be  frequented 
by  the  foreign  merchants  and  the  itinerant  re- 
tailers. At  times  the  rise  of  fairs  to  peculiar  importance 
was  due  to  genuinely  important  economic  factors,  such  as 
the  location  of  the  town  with  reference  to  trade  routes  or  its 
relation  to  the  more  important  manufacturing  districts,  but 
in  many  instances  relatively  trivial  circumstances  were  suffi- 


140  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

cient  to  occasion  a  notable  gathering  of  traders.  Many  of 
the  famous  fairs  of  Europe  were  thus  held  in  places  of  no 
especial  importance  otherwise.  When  such  gatherings  of 
traders  appeared  at  a  fair  the  period  was  usually  extended, 
first  to  two  or  three  days,  then  to  a  week,  and  finally  per- 
haps to  a  month. 

The  foreign  traders  attending  such  f airs,  like  the  retailers 
frequenting  fairs  of  lesser  import,  were  disposed  to  arrange 
__ ,  a  circuit  which  would  enable  them  to  come  in 

Cycles 

contact  with  all  the  regions  producing  the  goods 
sought  by  them,  so  that  the  fairs  which  become  prominent 
in  connection  with  the  wholesale  trade  of  Europe  tend  to 
fall  into  more  or  less  definite  cycles.  This  tendency  is  most 
clearly  apparent  in  Continental  Europe,  where  the  fairs  of 
Champagne  and  of  Flanders  constitute  two  closely  organ- 
ized groups  of  fairs.  There  were  six  fairs  in  each  group, 
distributed  throughout  the  year.  As  the  manufacturers  at- 
tending the  various  fairs  came  from  somewhat  different 
areas,  the  wholesale  market  was  relatively  comprehensive  as 
regards  area  and  approximately  continuous  as  regards  time. 
In  England,  the  cycle  of  wholesale  fairs  was  not  so  defi- 
nitely organized:  the  fairs  were  not  subject  to  any  common 
An  English  administrative  regulations,  as  was  the  case  with 
cycle  the  fairs  of  Champagne,  and  as  we  have  no 

knowledge  of  the  credit  organization  of  the  English  fairs  we 
cannot  be  certain  that  the  most  distinctive  features  of  a  fair 
cycle  were  present.  The  more  important  fairs,  however, 
succeeded  each  other  in  a  convenient  sequence  and  the 
arrangements  made  by  the  royal  treasury  indicate  the  pres- 
ence at  these  fairs  of  a  substantially  identical  group  of  trad- 
ers. By  letters  patent  of  November  16,  1240,  the  bailiffs  of 
Winchester  were  ordered  to  make  known  to  all  merchants 
"  the  provision  of  the  King  and  Council  that  the  King's 
prises l  from  merchants  shall  be  paid  at  four  terms  of  the  year, 
to  wit,  prises  due  at  the  fair  of  Northampton  in  the  fair  of 
St.  Ives;  prises  due  in  the  latter,  at  thq  fair  of  Boston;  prises 
in  the  latter,  in  the  fair  of  Winchester;  and  those  due  in  the 

1  See  infra,  151. 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  141 

latter,  in  the  fair  of  Northampton."  *  The  group  of  fairs 
mentioned  presents  the  following  sequence :  the  fair  of  Saint 
Ives,  eight  days  beginning  Easter  Monday;  the  fair  of  Bos- 
ton, eight  days  beginning  with  the  feast  of  Saint  John  the 
Baptist,  June  25  to  July  2;  the  fair  at  Winchester  (Saint 
Giles's  Fair)  August  31  to  September  15;  the  fair  of  North- 
ampton, November  17  to  25.  Other  evidence  shows  that  the 
merchants  usually  attended  the  fair  at  Lynn,  immediately 
following  the  fair  at  Boston,  and  a  fair  at  Stamford  is  men- 
tioned as  important,  though  perhaps  not  equally  important. 
In  so  far  as  debts  contracted  at  one  fair  could  be  paid  at  a 
subsequent  fair,  this  English  fair  cycle  closely  resembles  the 
Continental  fairs.  The  King,  at  least,  received  goods  and 
money  due  at  one  fair  at  a  subsequent  fair. 

In  picturesque  accounts  of  fairs  there  is  a  tendency  to 
emphasize  the  variety  of  goods  displayed  for  sale,  and  one 
frequently  carries  away  the  impression  that  the  Business  of 
fairs,  and  particularly  the  great  wholesale  fairs,  a  £air 
were  devoted  to  trading  in  all  the  goods  known  to  the  period. 
Distinction  should  be  made  between  the  classes  of  goods 
whose  purchase  and  sale  were  the  main  purpose  of  the  fair, 
and  the  classes  of  goods  in  which  incidental  trading  was  in- 
evitable. The  gathering  of  any  great  crowd  of  traders  would 
require  more  than  the  usual  activity  of  trade  in  food,  espe- 
cially cooked  foods.  Butchers,  bakers,  and  all  classes  of  cooks 
were  thus  a  prominent  feature  of  any  fair.  Possible  dispari- 
ties between  the  volume  of  goods  brought  to  the  fair  and 
purchased  there  would  inevitably  require  many  merchants  to 
add  to  their  train  of  pack-animals.  Dealing  in  horses,  mules, 
and  their  equipment  was  therefore  an  incidental  feature  of 
every  considerable  fair.  The  assemblage  of  traders,  further- 
more, created  a  demand  for  more  or  less  craft-work;  black- 
smiths, saddlers,  harness-makers,  barbers,  tailors,  and  the 
like  would  all  find  special  opportunities  for  custom.  Car- 
penters would  be  in  demand  to  put  up  and  take  down  the 
light  wooden  booths  that  were  used  during  the  fair.  The 
incidental  work  of  the  fair  would  thus  be  representative  of 

1  Col.  Pat.  Rotts  1232-47,  239. 


142  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  normal  life  of  the  community.  All  this  business  must 
properly  be  distinguished  from  the  main  business  of  the  fair. 
These  English  fairs  were  especially  devoted  to  the  trade  hi 
wool,  cloth,  and  hides.  Foreign  goods  were  exchanged  for 
these  products:  wines  from  Gascony;  spices,  drugs,  and  dyes, 
coming  by  way  of  the  sea  or  from  France  'and  Flanders; 
wax,  linen,  German  wines,  and  other  characteristic  products 
from  the  Hanseatic  towns  of  the  Baltic.  But  the  exchange 
of  products  does  not  seem  to  have  been  as  elaborately  organ- 
ized in  England  as  it  was  on  the  Continent. 

Sympathetic  understanding  of  the  relation  of  fairs  to  medi- 
eval trade  is  made  particularly  difficult  by  the  obtrusiveness 
of  the  dues  levied  on  merchandise  entering  or  leaving  the 
fair,  and  by  various  restrictions  on  trading.  The 

Tolls  and  dues 

laissez-faire  thought  of  the  nineteenth  century 
made  all  these  features  seem  excessively  restrictive.  Kitchin 
expresses  this  view  characteristically  in  speaking  of  Saint 
Giles's  Fair  at  Winchester: 

The  regulations  of  the  fair  were  on  every  hand  arbitrary  and 
oppressive;  and,  if  it  relieved  the  city  of  Royal  exactions,  it  at  the 
same  time  destroyed  its  independence;  all  trade  was  forbidden  in  the 
city  and  in  the  "seven  league  circuit";  no  man  might  buy  or  sell 
aught  except  at  the  fair;  the  Civic  Authorities  had  no  jurisdiction, 
even  over  their  own  citizens;  nor  indeed  could  any  lord  of  a  manor 
hold  his  Court-baron  within  the  circuit  of  the  seven  leagues,  except 
by  special  leave  from  the  Pavillion  Court.  The  tolls  taken  at  the 
gates  of  the  Fair  were  a  considerable  burden  on  traders  and  buyers 
and  were  levied  on  Englishmen  or  foreigners  alike. l 

These  presumptions  in  favor  of  free  trade  tend  to  create 
prejudices  against  the  whole  structure  of  medieval  commerce. 
The  freedom  It  seems  to  be  burdened  with  excessive  dues  and 
of  the  fair  cramped  by  unnecessary  regulations.  In  look- 
ing for  the  frank  economic  freedom  that  is  assumed  by  the 
modern  thinker  to  be  necessary,  we  frequently  fail  to  appre- 
ciate the  extent  of  the  legal  enfranchisement  that  was  guar- 
anteed by  the  fair.  "At  fairs  and  markets,"  says  Lipson, 
"full  freedom  of  traffic  was  accorded  indifferently  to  alien 
1  Kitchin:  A  Charter  of  Edward  III,  21. 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  143 

and  to  native,  to  burgess  and  to  stranger;  and  it  was  this 
policy  of  free  trade  and  the  open  door  which  attracted  traders 
and  afforded  scope  for  the  unrestricted  play  of  commercial 
forces."  In  the  context  this  passage  could  hardly  be  misun- 
derstood by  any  one  familiar  with  the  constitutional  history 
ot  the  medieval  period,  but  the  phrases  "free  trade"  and 
"the  open  door"  are  singularly  infelicitous  because  they 
suggest  that  the  freedom  guaranteed  by  the  fair  was  fiscal 
and  economic  rather  than  legal. 

We  can  know  little  of  the  actual  burden  of  customs  and 
tolls  during  the  medieval  period.  The  multiplicity  of  dues 
and  the  obtrusive  methods  of  collection  would  seem  to  make 
it  inevitable  that  the  burden  of  indirect  taxation  was  greater 
than  it  is  to-day,  but  one  must  remember  that  the  less  obtru- 
sive burdens  of  modern  customs  are  none  the  less  real  because 
less  consciously  felt.  In  the  middle  ages  the  larger  portion 
of  public  revenue,  such  as  it  was,  came  from  direct  taxes  on 
land  and  incomes  from  land.  Much  medieval  trade  was 
carried  on  under  special  licenses,  and  evasion  of  customs 
was  easier  than  it  is  now.  Although  the  burden  of  indirect 
taxes  was  undoubtedly  considerable,  we  do  not  really  know 
whether  it  was  greater  or  less  than  it  is  to-day.  The  fair  was 
certainly  not  primarily  a  mechanism  for  lightening  fiscal 
burdens. 

The  essential  feature  of  the  f air  was  the  creation  of  a  special 
court  in  which  all  parties,  of  whatsoever  extraction,  should 
have  equal  rights.  In  the  other  courts  a  citizen  „ 

.  The  fair  court 

of  a  foreign  country,  or  even  a  resident  of  another 
locality  in  the  kingdom,  would  have  no  rights.  The  law  of 
the  land  was  indeed  as  narrow  in  spirit  and  letter  as  has  been 
represented  by  writers  who  represent  the  medieval  period  as 
dominated  by  intense  localism,  manifested  characteristically 
in  the  conception  of  an  essentially  exclusive  municipality.  The 
notion  of  the  town  economy  is  a  legitimate  interpretation  of 
the  developed  municipal  constitution.  If  there  had  been  no 
other  legal  arrangements,  trade  would  have  been  impossible. 
The  notable  feature  of  the  fair,  therefore,  was  the  creation  of  a 
special  court,  which  lasted  throughout  the  fair,  and,  for  the 


144  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

time  being,  supplanted  the  other  local  courts.  At  Winches- 
ter the  fair  courts  were  charged  with  all  legal  business  of  the 
fair,  the  town,  and  a  circuit  of  seven  leagues  within  which 
trading  was  prohibited  during  the  fair.  In  this  manner  the 
legal  disabilities  of  aliens  and  non-residents  were  completely 
overcome.  The  suspension  of  the  municipal  constitution 
during  the  period  of  the  fair  at  Winchester  is  symbolic.  As 
Kitchin  says,  the  civic  authorities  did  not  have  jurisdiction 
over  their  own  citizens  during  the  fair:  the  policy  of  munic- 
ipal selfishness  of  the  town  was  nullified  by  the  freedom  of 
the  fair. 

These  fair  courts  administered  a  different  kind  of  law. 
Local  courts,  whether  in  England  or  on  the  Continent,  were 
charged  with  the  administration  of  a  body  of  law  that  was 
essentially  formal.  Pleadings  must  needs  follow  definite 
forms  and  errors  of  form  were  absolutely  fatal.  The  omission 
or  misplacement  of  a  word  would  prevent  a  person  from  se- 
curing legal  relief.  Customary  law,  too,  was  relatively  rigid. 
The  number  of  writs  that  might  be  issued  by  the  local  courts 
was  limited,  and  if  anything  arose  that  created  a  new  prob- 
lem it  was  practically  impossible  to  secure  relief.  The  fair 
courts,  which  came  to  be  called  "Pie-Powder  Courts,"  were 
the  lowest  courts  in  the  legal  hierarchy,  but  they  adminis- 
tered a  kind  of  law  that  gives  them  a  notable  place  in  legal 
history.  Procedure  was  designed  to  be  informal;  the  sub- 
stance of  the  case  was  regarded  as  more  important  than  the 
The  Law  form  of  the  pleadings.  It  was  intended  to  make 
Merchant  procedure  sufficiently  simple  to  enable  mer- 
chants to  dispense  with  lawyers.  This  complete  informality 
of  procedure  was  not  always  achieved,  but  in  a  measure  the 
law  enforced  by  these  courts  was  administered  by  merchants 
without  special  legal  training.  In  the  decision  of  cases  the 
judge  was  presumed  to  be  guided  by  his  conception  of  what 
was  just  and  fair.  Because  merchants  were  primarily  con- 
cerned with  contracts,  the  Law  Merchant  was  particularly 
rich  in  cases  concerning  the  enforcement  of  contracts,  and 
when  the  various  types  of  commercial  paper  began  to  appear, 
they  were  recognized  soonest  in  this  special  body  of  law  de- 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  145 

veloped  with  reference  to  the  needs  of  the  mercantile  com- 
munity. The  Law  Merchant  and  its  special  courts  thus 
enabled  the  merchant  to  do  business,  although  the  ordinary 
courts  and  the  general  body  of  law  were  wholly  inconsistent 
with  the  existence  of  the  very  mobile  trader  that  was  typical 
of  the  period.  Trade  and  traders  stood  outside  the  general 
legal  framework  of  society. 

The  special  merchants  court,  the  "Pie-Powder  Court," 
originated  in  the  fairs,  but  courts  administering  the  Law 
Merchant  came  to  be  established  in  many  towns.  Extension  of 
In  the  English  boroughs  the  distinction  between  the  Law 
the  mercantile  jurisdiction  and  the  ordinary 
jurisdiction  was  not  always  well  drawn;  at  times  one  court 
administered  two  kinds  of  law,  at  other  times  there  were  two 
courts  with  distinct  series  of  records.  In  the  earlier  stages  of 
this  development  the  borough  court  could  administer  the 
Law  Merchant  only  during  the  period  of  the  fair,  but  this 
restriction  was  ultimately  removed,  and  cases  under  the  Law 
Merchant  could  be  heard  at  any  time.  These  extensions  of 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  courts  of  towns  and  boroughs  thus 
resulted  in  a  significant  extension  of  the  legal  enfranchise- 
ment of  strangers.  Many  privileges  of  the  fair  became  essen- 
tially continuous,  so  that  much  trading  could  be  done  at  all 
times.  These  possibilities  must  have  tended  to  restrict  the 
importance  of  the  great  fairs  by  giving  the  wholesale  trader 
sufficient  legal  freedom  to  make  him  relatively  independent 
of  the  privileges  associated  with  the  fairs.  It  is  possible  that 
the  early  decay  of  the  great  international  fairs  in  England 
was  due  in  a  measure  to  the  development  of  other  and  better 
methods  of  handling  the  wholesale  trade.  In  this  respect,  at 
all  events,  there  seem  to  be  differences  in  the  mechanism  of 
trading  in  England  and  in  Continental  Europe  that  are  as  yet 
ill-understood. 

The  relations  between  England  and  the  Continent  were 
peculiar  in  a  number  of  respects.     The  Kings  of  England 
possessed  territorial  rights  in  France  which  made  charters  to 
them  grant  special  privileges  to  merchants  who  <dien  merchants 
were  in  a  sense  strangers,  but  none  the  less  their  subjects. 


146  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Thus  a  charter  of  Edward  I  to  the  wine  merchants  of  Aqui- 
taine  (August  13,  1302)  placed  them  under  the  special  pro- 
tection of  the  King  "in  England  and  elsewhere  within  his 
power."  He  gave  them  the  right  to  "trade  in  gross  in  the 
cities,  boroughs,  and  merchant  towns  either  with  natives  or 
inhabitants  of  the  said  realm  or  with  foreigners,  strangers,  or 
with  private  persons." 

The  said  merchant  vintners  may  lodge  in  the  cities  and  towns 
where  they  will,  and  tarry  with  their  goods  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
owners  of  the  inns  or  houses.  All  contracts  made  by  the  said  vint- 
ners with  any  person  shall  be  good,  so  that  neither  merchant  can  re- 
cede therefrom,  when  once  earnest  money  has  been  paid. ...  All  bail- 
iffs and  ministers  of  the  fairs  of  the  cities,  boroughs,  and  merchant 
towns  shall  do  speedy  justice  from  day  to  day  without  delay,  if  they 
complain  to  them  of  wrongs,  vexations,  or  touching  debts  or  other 
pleas,  and  the  justice  shall  be  according  to  the  Law  Merchant; 
if  there  be  found  any  default  in  the  said  bailiffs  or  ministers, 
whereby  any  of  the  said  vintners  have  experienced  delay,  even 
though  the  vintner  has  recovered  his  losses  against  the  princi- 
pal party,  nevertheless  the  said  bailiff  or  minister  shall  be  punish- 
able by  the  King,  and  this  punishment  is  granted  as  a  favor  to  the 
said  merchant  vintners  to  hasten  the  doing  of  justice  to  them.1 

By  the  "Carta  Mercatoria"  it  was  provided  that  there 
should  be  a  special  judge  in  London  to  hear  pleas  of  alien 
merchants,  if  the  sheriffs  fail  to  do  speedy  justice.  The  for- 
eigner thus  came  to  have  many  rights  by  reason  of  the  com- 
plexity of  jurisdictions  which  it  is  so  hard  for  us  to  under- 
stand to-day.  We  are  accustomed  to  a  legal  system  that 
administers  the  same  law  to  all  parties;  in  the  middle  ages 
each  class  in  the  community  enjoyed  some  special  privileges 
and  was  subject  to  a  somewhat  different  set  of  legal  arrange- 
ments. 

III.  ASSOCIATIONS  OF  MEECHANTS 

The  merchants  coming  to  England  from  foreign  parts 
sometimes  came  as  purely  individual  traders;  but  the  traders 
coming  from  the  Baltic  towns,  a  particularly  important  and 
numerous  group,  began  at  an  early  date  to  form  associations 

'  Col.  Charter  Rolls,  m,  2&-30. 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  147 

which  were  designed  to  protect  the  individual  merchants 
during  their  residence  in  England.  They  formed  a  "  hanse" 
—  an  association  of  merchants  recognized  by  the  State. 
At  a  later  period,  and  in  France  during  the  early  period,  these 
associations  were  called  "companies,"  but  they  were  not  com- 
panies hi  any  modern  sense  of  the  word.  Privileges  and  real 
estate  were  held  as  corporate  property,  but  trading  was  al- 
ways strictly  individual,  even  when  the  intrusion  of  fraternal 
elements  into  the  association  gave  rise  to  the  obligation  to 
share  advantageous  bargains  with  fellow  members.  In 
medieval  England  there  were  three  associations  of  merchants 
of  fundamental  importance:  the  Hansards,  Trading 
from  the  German  and  Baltic  towns;  the  Mer-  associations 
chants  of  the  Staple,  merchants,  mostly  native  Englishmen, 
trading  hi  wool  to  the  Low  Countries;  and  the  Merchant 
Adventurers,  English  merchants,  who  began  in  the  fifteenth 
century  to  compete  with  the  Hansards  for  the  control  of 
English  trade  with  the  Baltic.  A  fundamental  feature  of  all 
these  associations,  whether  of  foreign  or  of  native  merchants, 
was  the  acquisition  of  rights  and  privileges  designed  to  over- 
come the  restrictive  features  of  municipal  and  even  national 
regulations  of  commerce.  Commerce  could  thrive  only 
under  a  regime  of  special  privilege,  and  these  great  mercantile 
associations  held  as  a  cherished  corporate  possession  the  more 

.portant  franchises  granted  to  trade  and  traders. 

The  origin  of  the  association  of  Germanic  merchants  is 
obscure.  The  earliest  references  to  an  organization  reveal 
the  existence  of  an  association  substantially 
similar  to  a  merchant  gild  located  at  London 
and  composed  exclusively  of  foreigners,  primarily  merchants 
from  Cologne.  In  1157  specific  reference  to  a  house  belong- 
ing to  these  merchants  appears  in  the  patents  by  which  they 
were  guaranteed  the  protection  of  the  King.  Their  persons 
and  then*  property  were  thus  assured  of  legal  safeguards : 
they  were  under  obligation  to  pay  various  duties  and  were 
charged  with  repairing  the  Bishop's  Gate.  In  many  ways, 
therefore,  then*  position  was  comparable  to  that  of  native 
citizens  of  London.  The  growth  of  the  municipality  tended 


148 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND 


to  sharpen  the  distinction  that  existed  between  these  privi- 
leged foreigners  and  the  citizens,  for  the  foreigners  did  not 
participate,  as  such,  in  the  rights  of  self-government  that 
were  gradually  acquired  by  the  citizens,  though  citizenship 
was  not  incompatible  with  membership  hi  the  Hanse  and  a 
number  of  Hansards  rose  to  prominence  in  the  government 
of  the  City.  In  this  early  period,  when  both  foreigner  and 
native  born  were  subject  to  royal  judicial  and  administra- 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS      149 

tive  officers,  there  were  few  essential  differences  in  civil 
rights.  It  is  important  to  note  that  the  Hanse  privileges 
were  based  on  royal  grants  which  were  later  recognized  by 
the  Mayor  and  Burgesses  of  London.  The  agreement  of 
1282,  however,  seems  to  indicate  some  subordination  of  the 
Hanse  merchants  to  the  City.  The  merchants  of  the  Hanse 
were  governed  by  an  alderman,  who  held  court  independ- 
ently of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  City,  but  it  was 
provided  that  he  should  be  a  person  enjoying 
the  freedom  of  the  City,  in  other  words,  a  citizen  of  Lon- 
don. He  was  also  required  to  take  oath  before  the  Mayor 
and  Burgesses  of  the  City. 

The  establishment  of  the  merchants  of  Cologne  proved  to 
be  the  nucleus  of  a  larger  group.  Merchants  from  the  Baltic 
ports,  notably  Hamburg  and  Liibeck,  appeared  hi  London. 
At  first  there  were  many  jealousies.  In  1266  and  1267  mer- 
chants from  these  towns  gained  recognition  as  independent 
associations,  but  these  separatist  tendencies  were  subse- 
quently overcome  and  a  general  association  of  German  mer- 
chants was  formed.  The  agreement  above  mentioned  is 
usually  assumed  to  indicate  the  disappearance  of  the  inde- 
pendent organizations,  as  only  one  association  is  referred  to. 
Right  to  maintain  permanent  establishments  in  the  provinces 
had  also  been  acquired;  the  first  stations  were  stations  of 
at  Ipswich,  Yarmouth,  Lynn,  and  Boston,  and  the  Hanse 
though  they  en  joyed  some  measure  of  independence  they  were 
subordinate  to  the  establishment  at  London.  A  merchant 
could  not  become  a  member  of  a  provincial  establishment  nor 
enjoy  its  privileges  unless  he  were  a  member  of  the  London 
Hanse. 

Details  of  organization  varied  considerably  during  the  ex- 
istence of  the  association,  so  that  it  is  not  possible  to  give  any 
general  sketch  of  the  system  of  organization.  The  Alderman 
of  the  German  Merchants  at  London  was  presumed  to  act 
as  spokesman  and  as  defender  of  all  German  merchants  in 
England,  but  in  practice  his  control  of  the  provincial  associa- 
tions was  not  very  great.  Both  at  London  and  in  the  pro- 
vincial stations  there  were  a  considerable  number  of  Ger- 


150  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

mans  in  permanent  residence,  and  the  civic  and  judicial 
functions  of  the  association  were  of  course  largely  exercised 
by  them.  There  were  some  merchants  whose  business  kept 
them  traveling  between  the  countries,  but  the  general  tend- 
ency was  to  establish  partnerships  embracing  permanent 
residents  both  in  Germany  and  in  England. 

The  activities  of  the  Hansards  were  not  confined  to  the 
towns  in  which  they  had  permanent  establishments.  They 
traded  in  many  towns,  at  many  fairs,  and  were  active  in  the 
country  districts,  buying  both  cloth  and  wool.  They  claimed 
the  right  to  engage  in  retail  as  well  as  in  wholesale  trade 
throughout  the  kingdom.  The  claims  were  persistently 
Trade  of  the  opposed  by  native  merchants,  but  the  Hansards 
Hanse  retained  a  significant  hold  on  the  trade  of  the 

kingdom  until  their  expulsion.  In  the  early  period  the  im- 
ports consisted  chiefly  of  furs,  tar,  and  salt  fish ;  the  exports, 
of  wool,  leather,  and  cloth.  The  extent  of  the  trade  in- 
creased notably.  All  the  tar  products,  iron  ore,  steel,  copper, 
wood  and  manufactures  of  wood,  grain,  flour,  flax,  linen 
yarn,  silks,  malt,  beer,  wines,  woad,  and  drugs,  came  to  be 
regularly  imported.  The  list  of  exports  was  not  similarly 
extended. 

The  establishment  of  the  Hanse  acquired  the  name  "  Steel- 
yard" in  the  fifteenth  century.  The  association  had  in- 
The "  steel-  creased  its  holdings  of  real  estate  and  enlarged 
yard"  its  warehouses  and  living  accommodations  so 

that  it  was  possible  to  house  all  members  in  buildings  owned 
by  the  corporate  group.  The  growing  hostility  of  the  citi- 
zens and  traders  of  London  was  perhaps  a  contributory  fac- 
tor. At  all  events,  the  separateness  of  the  Hanseatic  juris- 
diction was  more  and  more  sharply  emphasized  and  the  older 
individual  freedom  of  the  merchants  gave  way  to  a  system  of 
living  that  brought  into  prominence  the  fraternal  and  com- 
munal elements  that  had  always  been  latent  in  the  idea  of 
the  association.  The  hostility  of  the  City  inevitably  forced 
the  Hanseatic  merchants  into  closer  dependence  upon  each 
other. 

Among  the  privileges  of  the  Hanse  in  the  early  period  were 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  151 

i 

special  exemptions  from  the  payment  of  customs  duties.  The 
liberal  policy  of  Edward  I  toward  foreign  mer-  Fiscaj  privileges 
chants  was  embodied  in  a  group  of  documents: 
some  grants  of  privileges  were  addressed  to  particular  groups 
of  merchants,  such  as  the  wine  merchants  of  the  Duchy  of 
Aquitaine  and  the  Hansards;  there  was  also  a  grant  of  essen- 
tially similar  privileges  to  merchants  of  all  nationalities  in 
the  "  Carta  Mercatoria"  of  February,  1303.  The  privileges 
claimed  by  the  Hansards  are  presumed  by  many  to  have 
been  founded  on  the  general  grants  of  this  "Carta  Merca- 
toria," as  the  special  charter  cited  by  Hubert  Hall 1  seems 
to  have  been  overlooked.  These  documents,  like  most  medi- 
eval grants  of  privilege,  were  definitely  reciprocal  agree- 
ments: in  exchange  for  certain  franchises  the  King  received 
certain  financial  considerations.  The  alien  merchants  re- 
ceived assurance  of  personal  security,  guarantees  of  certain 
commercial  privileges,  and  legal  rights.  In  return,  they 
agreed  to  pay  certain  additional  import  duties.  According 
to  these  arrangements  the  aliens  were  subject  to  the  payment 
of  duties  which  were  perhaps  fairly  heavy,  but  absolutely 
certain. 

The  native  merchant  was  not  under  any  obligation  to  pay 
duties,  but  he  was  obliged  to  sell  his  goods  to  royal  agents 
whenever  the  goods  were  needed,  or  alleged  to 
be  needed,  by  the  royal  household  or  the  military 
establishment.  This  exercise  of  the  feudal  obligation  of  pur- 
veyance, or  "  prise,"  amounted  in  fact  to  obligatory  sale  to  the 
King  at  such  price  as  the  King's  agents  were  pleased  to  name. 
The  prices  set  were  usually  low  so  that  resale  at  a  profit  was 
possible  and  usual.  It  was  thus  in  reality  a  tax  that  was 
capricious  in  its  incidence,  and  also  a  method  of  making  the 
Crown  an  unfair  competitor  in  trade.  This  right  of  prise  was 
a  source  of  revenue  to  the  Crown  in  any  case;  if  the  purchase 
were  actually  used  by  the  royal  household  or  for  state  pur- 
poses, those  needs  were  supplied  for  much  less  than  the  normal 
market  price,  if  the  goods  were  subsequently  resold,  the  royal 
treasury  was  the  beneficiary  of  the  commercial  transaction. 

1  Hall:  Customs  Revenue,  i,  24. 


152  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

As  long  as  these  rights  of  prise  were  maintained  the  native 
merchants  were  constantly  menaced  by  the  possibility  of 
royal  exactions  that  might  well  be  heavier  than  any  definite 
customs  duties.  The  establishment  of  formal  import  duties 
with  reference  to  alien  importers  was  thus  relatively  favor- 
able to  the  alien  merchants,  despite  the  fiscal  burdens  in- 
volved. The  civil  and  legal  rights  acquired  were  worth  the 
price.  The  King,  too,  gained;  he  could  not  exercise  the  right 
of  prise  over  aliens. 

In  the  "Carta  Mercatoria"  aHenmerchants  were  assured 
personal  security;  they  were  given  the  right  to  reside  in 
The  "Carta  cities,  boroughs,  or  merchant  towns;  they  were 
Mercatoria  "  exempt  from  the  payment  of  various  municipal 
taxes;  the  obligations  of  all  contracts  were  guaranteed;  judi- 
cial officers  of  cities,  towns,  and  fairs  were  required  to  render 
prompt  justice  to  all  merchants,  according  to  the  Law  Mer- 
chant; they  were  guaranteed  freedom  from  all  prises  or  delays 
due  to  prisage.  The  commercial  privileges  of  the  charter 
were  especially  significant  with  reference  to  the  development 
of  the  trade  of  the  Hansards:  aliens  were  given  the  right  to 
engage  freely  in  wholesale  trade  with  natives  and  with 
foreigners,  and  in  the  retail  trade  in  mercery.  The  term 
"mercery"  is  conveniently  vague.  At  all  tunes  a  somewhat 
artificial  classification  of  goods,  the  list  of  merceries  tended 
to  increase  in  each  successive  generation,  both  in  England 
and  on  the  Continent.  Some  of  the  textiles,  most  small 
manufactured  articles,  and  various  drugs  fell  within  the  scope 
of  the  term  " mercery"  at  various  times,  and  these  were  the 
wares  which  were  most  frequently  retailed  by  wealthy  mer- 
chants engaged  simultaneously  in  wholesale  trade. 

The  privileges  of  the  "Carta  Mercatoria"  were  subse- 
quently withdrawn  from  the  general  body  of  merchants,  so 
that  the  special  grants  that  had  been  made  at  that  tune  be- 
came singularly  important,  as  they  maintained  the  regime 
of  privilege  for  the  Hansards  and  some  other  small  groups  of 
merchants.  The  Hansards  were  obliged  to  defend  their 
privileges  on  a  number  of  occasions,  but  they  seem  on  the 
whole  to  have  succeeded  in  maintaining  their  claim  to  exemp- 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  153 

tion  from  any  duties  not  provided  for  in  the  schedules  of  the 
grants  of  1303.  This  principle  was  definitely  The  struggle 
acknowledged  by  the  Crown  in  1354,  but  toward  with  the  Crown 
the  close  of  the  century  the  needs  of  the  treasury  resulted  in 
new  demands  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  which  the  Hansards 
were  not  able  to  resist.  At  that  time  increased  burdens 
placed  on  native  merchants  had  created  notable  preferences 
in  favor  of  the  Hansards.  The  interminable  negotiations 
over  these  fiscal  matters  are  obscure  and  tiresome,  but  the 
fact  that  alien  merchants  actually  enjoyed  preferences  to 
the  disadvantage  of  the  native  merchants  is  of  substantial 
importance. 

The  late  fourteenth  century,  characterized  by  these  fiscal 
struggles  with  the  Crown,  marks  the  culmination  of  the 
commercial  importance  of  the  Hanseatic  merchants.  The 
organization  was  important  throughout  the  fifteenth  and 
sixteenth  centuries,  but  it  was  gradually  losing  ground,  in 
England  as  in  Germany.  Political  disorder  was  a  cause  of 
decay  in  Germany.  In  England  competition  with  English 
merchants  was  the  principal  factor,  though  of  course  the 
growing  importance  of  the  English  trading  community  was 
furthered  by  the  weakness  of  the  Hanseatic  League  in  Ger- 
many and  the  Baltic  regions. 

The  appearance  of  the  Merchants  of  the  Staple  is  the  first 
indication  of  an  organized  attempt  of  native  merchants  to 
secure  some  share  in  the  wholesale  trade  that  Merchants  of 
had  remained  in  the  hands  of  aliens  until  the  t1168^16 
late  thirteenth  century.  The  Staple,  as  the  term  is  used  in 
English  history,  was  the  town  or  group  of  towns  designated 
by  the  King  as  sole  exporting  points  for  wool  and  wool  fels. 
This  concentration  of  the  export  trade  in  wool  seemed  desir- 
able from  the  fiscal  point  of  view.  If  the  movement  of  wool 
followed  a  definite  course  in  the  process  of  exportation  it  was 
much  easier  to  be  sure  that  the  export  duties  would  not  be 
evaded.  The  town  or  towns  designated  as  Staple  ports  might 
be  in  England  or  on  the  Continent:  if  English  ports  were 
designated  it  was  practically  necessary  to  designate  a  number 
of  places  conveniently  situated  with  reference  to  the  various 


154  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

centers  of  wool  production;  if  a  Continental  town  were  chosen 
a  single  town  would  suffice,  as  the  trade  could  be  more  easily 
concentrated.  For  this  reason,  doubtless,  a  Continental 
Staple  port  was  favored.  During  the  period  1285-1392,  there 
was  no  Staple  at  all  for  seven  years;  for  thirty  years,  not 
Location  of  consecutive,  the  Staple  was  in  various  English 
the  staple  towns;  for  the  remaining  seventy  years,  the 
Staple  was  at  Calais  or  some  town  in  the  Low  Countries. 
Throughout  this  period  the  location  of  the  Staple  was  highly 
uncertain,  but  for  the  century  and  a  half  that  followed,  un- 
til 1558,  the  Staple  remained  at  Calais. 

The  body  of  merchants  that  ultimately  came  to  be  known 
as  "  Merchants  of  the  Staple"  did  not  acquire  charter  rights 
until  the  fourteenth  century.  The  development  of  this  or- 
ganization is  obscure. 

There  were  certain  merchants  of  the  realm,  both  native  and  for- 
eign, whom  the  king  was  accustomed  to  call  to  consult  with  him 
Origins  of  the  in  his  council  concerning  loans,  customs  and  subsi- 
Stapiers  dies,  grants  of  wool  and  other  matters  touching  their 

trade  and  the  king's  need.  These  were  probably  the  richest  and 
most  influential  of  the  wool  merchants.  When  Parliament  gave 
the  king  a  grant  of  wool,  he  negotiated  with  these  merchants  for 
the  sale  of  it  to  them  outright,  at  other  times  he  arranged  with  them 
for  a  certain  part  of  the  proceeds,  after  they  had  sold  it  in  the  con- 
tinental market.  They  were  habitually  spoken  of  as  the  "king's 
merchants"  or  the  "merchants  of  the  realm. "  When  they  had  the 
king's  wool  to  sell,  they  were  obliged  to  take  it  to  the  market  which 
he  had  established;  and  it  was  because  of  injury  done  to  them  and 
through  them  to  the  king,  by  not  attending  the  same  market,  that 
the  other  merchants  were  compelled  to  go  there  also.  Those  mer- 
chants of  the  realm  who  sold  the  king's  wool  formed,  then,  the  nu- 
cleus of  the  famous  English  Company  known  in  later  times  as  The 
Mayor,  Constables  and  Fellowship  of  the  Staple;  and  out  of  their 
organization  grew  the  organization  of  the  Staple. 

It  is  obvious  from  the  charter  that  the  merchants  already  had 
some  slight  degree  of  organization.  The  whole  body  of  the  "mer- 
chants of  the  realm  "  constituted  a  communitas;  they  were  evidently 
in  the  habit  of  acting  together,  and  they  had  a  major.  We  know 
that  the  charter  did  not  create  the  office  of  mayor,  since  a  few  months 
before  it  was  given,  a  "mayor  of  the  merchants  of  the  realm"  had 
been  sent  on  a  diplomatic  errand  to  the  count  of  Flanders.  The 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  155 

charter  also  mentions  a  council  of  these  same  merchants  with  which 
the  mayor  was  to  act  in  cases  of  infringement  upon  the  rights 
granted.  There  is  no  indication  whether  the  council  was  a  new 
institution  or  whether  it  had  existed  before. 

It  was  these  special  "merchants  of  the  realm"  whom  the  king 
chose  to  sell  his  wool,  who  first  attended  the  Staple.  The  center 
about  which  they  were  organized  was  the  long;  they  were  prima- 
rily the  "king's  merchants."  But  after  1313  the  other  wool  mer- 
chants also  went  to  the  Staple.  The  records  begin  to  speak  of  the 
"Merchants  of  the  Staple."  The  Staple  became  the  center  about 
which  they  were  organized,  and  with  this  change  there  gradually 
came  a  change  in  the  title  of  the  mayor  to  "Mayor  of  the  Mer- 
chants of  the  Staple,"  or  simply  "Mayor  of  the  Staple."  x 

These  merchants  constituted  a  distinct  body  from  the  citi- 
zens of  any  town  in  which  the  Staple  was  held.  "They 
dwelt  by  themselves  in  certain  streets  or  houses  Their  special 
set  apart  for  them:  they  elected  their  own  statu* 
officers,  who  governed  them  according  to  royal  ordinances, 
who  judged  them  according  to  the  Law  Merchant,  not  ac- 
cording to  the  Common  Law."  2  This  company  of  mer- 
chants were  an  important  factor  in  the  commerce  of  England 
until  the  exportation  of  wool  was  prohibited  in  the  seven- 
teenth century.  With  the  passing  of  the  export  trade  in  raw 
wool  the  company  ceased  to  possess  commercial  importance, 
but  the  existence  of  a  moderate  amount  of  property  gave  the 
company  an  unwarranted  length  of  life,  for  the  organization 
still  exists  as  a  sort  of  endowed  club. 

The  Company  of  Merchant  Adventurers  owes  its  origin  to 
the  same  general  circumstances  that  had  earlier  created  asso- 
ciations of  alien  merchants  in  England.     Civil  The  Merchant 
disabilities    in    towns,    uncertainties    of    legal  Adventurers 
status,  and  absence  of  any  national  organization  for  the  pro- 
tection of  subjects  in  foreign  parts  made  it  necessary  that 
there  should  be  some  organization  capable  of  dealing  with 
foreign  states  and  of  acting  as  the  corporate  recipient  of  fran- 
chises and  privileges.     The  Company  of  Merchant  Adven- 
turers, however,  came  into  great  prominence  only  toward  the 

1  Jenckes,  A.  L. :  The  Origin,  the  Organization  and  the  Location  of  the  Staple 
of  England,  13-14. 

2  Ibid.,  15. 


156  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  the  period  of  its  commer- 
cial significance  extends  through  the  seventeenth  century. 

English  traders  who  were  actively  engaged  in  commerce 
with  the  Low  Countries  began  to  receive  grants  of  privileges 
in  the  thirteenth  century,  and  seventeenth-century  writers, 
who  were  very  anxious  to  carry  the  origins  of  the  company 
far  back  into  the  past,  declared  that  these  grants  were  the 
basis  of  the  Company  and  Fellowship  of  Merchant  Adven- 
turers. But  these  grants  were  made  to  Englishmen  generally 
and  not  to  any  specific  group  of  traders.  The  origins  of 
the  company  are  obscure.  There  were  some 
administrative  officers  before  the  membership 
in  the  organization  was  rigidly  defined.  Persons  trading  in 
cloth  and  other  goods  to  the  Low  Countries  were  evidently 
presumed  to  be  members  of  the  organization  by  fact  of  being 
English  traders.  Membership  implied  nothing  more  than 
subordination  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Governor,  which  was 
primarily  in  the  interest  of  the  individual  trader.  When  the 
administrative  business  increased  in  volume,  fines  came  to  be 
levied  to  meet  the  necessary  expenses;  hi  theory,  these  were 
an  obligation  upon  all  English  merchants  engaged  in  trade  in 
the  commodities  which  had  become  the  affair  of  this  group 
of  merchants.  The  goods  handled  were  in  general  the  ex- 
ports not  covered  by  the  regulations  of  the  Staple;  primarily, 
therefore,  undyed  cloth.  The  years  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, in  which  there  was  no  Staple  on  the  Continent,  proved 
to  be  especially  significant  in  the  development  of  more  for- 
mality of  organization  among  the  cloth  traders  who  had  fol- 
lowed, as  it  were,  in  the  wake  of  the  Staple,  securing  a  cer- 
tain amount  of  protection  to  which  they  were  not  technically 
entitled.  Grants  made  in  1359,  by  reason  of  the  removal  of 
the  Staple  from  Bruges,  are  in  a  measure  the  most  specific 
beginning  of  the  formal  organization  of  the  company.  A 
charter  of  1462  recognizes  the  obligation  of  all  English  trad- 
ers in  the  Low  Countries  to  pay  fines  to  the  organization, 
and  in  1505  a  more  specific  charter  established  a  society 
with  a  strong  central  administration. 

The  sixteenth  century  was  marked  by  the  struggle  of  the 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS      157 

Merchant  Adventurers  with  the  Staplers  and  the  Hansards. 
The  gradual  decline  of  the  wool  trade  and  the  rise  Trade  of  the 
of  the  woolen  industries  in  England  gave  increas-  ^^^y 
ing  importance  to  the  cloth  trade.  With  the  change  in  the  rel- 
ative importance  of  these  branches  of  trade  many  Merchants 
of  the  Staple  turned  from  their  privileged  trade  to  the  cloth 
trade.  The  Merchant  Adventurers  declared  that  they  had 
a  monopoly  of  the  cloth  trade.  It  was  not  their  intention 
to  exclude  the  Staplers  from  the  trade,  but  merely  to  secure 
the  fines  from  their  membership.  The  Crown  did  not  sustain 
the  claims  of  the  Merchant  Adventurers,  but  seventy-three 
Staplers  joined  the  company.  One  must  regard  the  Mer- 
chant Adventurers  of  this  period,  therefore,  as  an  inclusive 
monopoly,  expressing  with  some  formality  the  spirit  of  the 
early  grants  of  privilege  —  the  inclusion  in  the  organization 
of  all  English  merchants  actually  engaged  in  the  cloth  trade 
with  the  Continent.  In  the  seventeenth  century  the  mem- 
bership roll  of  the  company  had  become  subject  to  many  re- 
strictive measures.  Apprenticeship  was  required,  and  a 
variety  of  exclusive  features  were  embodied  in  the  rules. 
The  determined  attack  on  the  company  as  a  monopoly  begins 
in  the  seventeenth  century  and  continues  with  no  significant 
interruption  until  the  monopoly  was  abolished  hi  1688. 

The  struggle  between  the  Merchant  Adventurers  and  the 
Hansards  is  an  intricate  episode  that  involves  much  detail 
of  Continental  commerce  and  politics.  The  struggle  with 
Merchant  Adventurers  were  eager  to  exclude  ••*•«*• 
the  Hansards  from  England,  and  the  Hansards  equally  in- 
tent upon  a  restriction  of  the  rights  of  the  Merchant  Adven- 
turers in  Germany.  The  Merchant  Adventurers  were  rela- 
tively successful,  though  there  were  elements  of  compromise 
in  the  general  settlement.  The  Hansards  were  allowed  to 
maintain  themselves  at  London  hi  the  Steelyard,  and  in 
return  the  Merchant  Adventurers  received  valuable  privi- 
leges at  Hamburg.  The  trade  of  the  Hansards,  however, 
declined  steadily  after  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century 
and  they  ceased  to  be  an  important  factor  in  the  trade  of 
England. 


158  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

IV.  TOWNSHIP  AND  BOEOUGH 

The  economic  and  constitutional  problems  that  are  asso- 
ciated with  the  development  of  urban  life  are  in  many  ways 
distinct.  The  lawyer  is  peculiarly  concerned  with  the  growth 
of  the  municipal  corporation;  the  economist  should  properly 
be  interested  in  the  differentiation  of  urban  and  rural  com- 
munities. These  problems  are  related,  but  they  are  not  iden- 
tical. Three  types  of  urban  community  were  ultimately 
cities,  recognized  in  medieval  English  law:  the  city, 

boroughs,  the  borough,  and  the  market  town.  The  city 
was  a  privileged  jurisdiction  which  was  also  the 
seat  of  a  bishop.  The  borough  was  a  privileged  town,  enjoy- 
ing rights  of  a  vaguely  determined  character  which  ulti- 
mately led  to  its  recognition  as  a  corporation.  The  market 
town  was  an  urban  area  devoid  of  any  distinctive  legal 
privileges,  for  the  existence  of  a  market  was  not  in  itself  an 
evidence  of  the  urban  character  of  the  settlement.  The 
economist  should  therefore  be  occupied  with  the  conditions 
affecting  the  development  of  a  somewhat  larger  number  of 
places  than  the  lawyer,  whose  boroughs  are  only  a  single 
class  of  urban  settlement.  Furthermore,  boroughs  were  in 
some  cases  so  small  that  they  do  not  differ  from  villages  ex- 
cept in  their  possession  of  privileges.  The  development  of 
the  municipal  corporation  is  thus  only  a  portion  of  the  gen- 
eral subject  of  the  growth  of  urban  life. 

We  are  hardly  in  a  position  to  trace  all  the  stages  in  the 
gradual  differentiation  of  urban  from  rural  communities,  but 
Town  and  we  can  perhaps  describe  the  points  of  departure 
country  g^  define  roughly  the  outstanding  features  of 

a  community  that  has  become  urban.  There  might  be  a 
disposition  to  assume  that  the  distinction  between  the  urban 
and  the  rural  community  should  turn  upon  the  degree  of 
concentration  of  population.  This  simple  basis  of  distinc- 
tion encounters  serious  difficulties  of  fact.  Periods  of  un- 
doubted importance  in  the  development  of  the  relations  be- 
tween town  and  country  were  not  distinguished  by  sufficient 
growth  of  population  to  afford  much  presumption  in  favor 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS      159 

of  a  theory  which  places  primary  emphasis  upon  the  mere 
number  of  people  living  in  the  settlement.  In  the  time  of 
Edward  the  Confessor  there  were  400  houses  in  Cambridge; 
in  1279,  there  were  534  houses.  In  the  meantime  great 
changes  had  taken  place  hi  the  legal  and  economic  relations 
between  Cambridge  and  the  county  —  changes  that  could 
hardly  be  explained  by  the  increased  importance  of  Cam- 
bridge as  a  center  of  population. 

Cambridge  was  not  a  particularly  large  town,  but  it  was 
fairly  representative.  In  the  Saxon  period  there  was  at  least 
one  town  in  each  county,  though  some  coun-  The  military 
ties  possessed  two  or  more.  These  towns,  how-  theory 
ever,  should  not  be  characterized  as  urban  settlements. 
The  Saxon  county  seats  and  many  if  not  most  of  the  Saxon 
towns  were  aggregations  of  people  for  the  purpose  of  main- 
taining a  military  stronghold.  The  rural  communities  of  the 
county  were  presumed  to  contribute  to  the  maintenance  of 
the  walls  by  money  payment  or  labor  services,  and  in  many 
instances  this  obligation  assumed  the  form  of  maintaining 
a  house  in  town.  The  tenant  of  the  house  was  presumed  to 
perform  certain  defined  duties  with  reference  to  the  repair  of 
the  walls.  The  population  of  the  town  was  thus  drawn  from 
all  parts  of  the  county.  The  motives  underlying  this  aggre- 
gation of  population  were  not  economic  but  military,  and 
for  this  reason  it  cannot  unreservedly  be  called  an  urban 
settlement. 

The  fundamental  economic  problem  is  to  explain  how  the 
inhabitants  of  these  towns  gained  a  living.  The  towns  were 
surrounded  by  fields  which  were  organized  for  agriculture 
after  the  manner  of  the  fields  surrounding  the  villages  of 
the  countryside.  Until  population  passed  a  certain  point 
there  is  no  difficulty  in  presuming  that  the  burgesses  who 
maintained  the  walls  of  the  town  were  primarily  engaged  in 
agriculture.  They  were  thus  scarcely  distinguishable  from 
the  villagers  of  the  county.  But  not  all  the  inhabitants  of  the 
towns  and  boroughs  could  live  on  the  product  Artisans  and 
of  agriculture.  Various  artisans  and  traders  fr**618 
are  discernible,  just  as  hi  the  villages.  Each  village  main- 


160  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

tained  a  few  artisans  who  were  more  or  less  completely 
dependent  upon  their  craft-labor.  Now  if  a  village  were 
required  to  send  some  one  to  reside  in  the  county  seat  to 
repair  walls,  it  is  entirely  conceivable  that  artisans  should 
be  selected  in  preference  to  others,  or  that  persons  selected 
should  become  artisans.  There  would  be  little  or  no  incon- 
venience hi  the  concentration  of  certain  types  of  village 
artisans  at  the  county  seat  or  borough,  and  there  were  some 
advantages.  During  the  Saxon  period  trading  was  prohib- 
ited outside  of  the  boroughs.  The  publicity  of  the  town  and 
its  assemblages  of  people  made  it  easier  to  secure  proper  wit- 
nesses to  transactions.  Under  such  circumstances  industry 
might  well  become  somewhat  concentrated  in  the  towns 
without  requiring  us  to  presume  that  there  were  any  economic 
motives  underlying  such  a  location  of  the  craftsmen  of  the 
community.  In  so  far  as  burgesses  were  sent  up  by  lords 
of  manors  there  would  be  even  greater  likelihood  that  the 
choice  would  fall  upon  the  artisans  of  the  estate  rather  than 
upon  the  agriculturalists.  The  mixed  condition  of  the  popu- 
lation of  the  early  borough  is  illustrated  by  a  statement  about 
the  Borough  of  Buckingham  in  the  Domesday  Survey. 
There  were  twenty-six  burgesses  on  the  King's  demesne  who 
held  eight  carucates  of  land,  and  twenty-six  burgesses  "  con- 
tributed by  various  lords"  who  owned  no  land.  The  bur- 
gesses on  the  royal  demesne  had  sufficient  land  to  maintain 
themselves  and  their  families  by  farming;  the  others  had  no 
visible  means  of  support  unless  we  assume  them  to  be  arti- 
sans. 

The  beginnings  of  concentration  of  population,  in  England 
at  least,  were  not  wholly  an  outcome  of  economic  factors. 
The  interests  of  a  rural  community  widely  scattered  over  the 
land  were  not  the  initial  factor  hi  setting  off  certain  settle- 
ments differing  in  size  and  legal  organization  from  the  rural 
villages.  The  towns  owed  then*  origins  in  many  cases  to 
military  necessities,  in  other  instances  to  administrative  con- 
_  .  venience.  The  borough,  in  so  far  as  it  was  a 

County  seats 

county  seat,  was  not  merely  a  fortress,  but  the 
" moot-stow,"  or  meeting-place,  for  the  county.    This  func- 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  161 

tion  made  special  administrative  organization  desirable.  It 
was  better  that  the  borough,  as  county  seat,  should  not  be 
part  of  any  of  the  administrative  divisions  of  the  county 
—  the  hundreds. 

The  borough  [says  Maitland]  is  a  vill  which  is  a  hundred;  or  it  is 
a  vill  which  has  an  organization  similar  to  that  of  a  hundred.  The 
idea  is  familiar  to  us;  it  is  in  our  classical  book.  Perhaps  it  is  too 
familiar,  for  is  there  not  here  a  new  departure  in  the  history  of  in- 
stitutions? We  are  to  have  a  "tun,"  a  vill,  with  a  jurisdictional 
organ,  with  a  moot  that  can  speak  law.  Ought  we  not  to  ask  what 
thought  lies  behind  this  vill  that  is  a  hundred?  Will  it  be  fantastic 
to  compare  small  beginnings  with  a  great  achievement? 

The  city  of  Washington  is  not  in  any  of  the  united  states  of  North 
America.  Why  not?  Because  it  is  the  "  moot-stow"  of  the  great 
republic.  The  dvitas  (city)  of  Cambridge  is  not  in  any  of  the  hun- 
dreds. Why  not?  Because  it  is  the  county's  town,  the  moot-stow, 
fortress,  and  port  of  the  republic  of  Cambridgeshire.1 

Towns  came  into  being  for  many  reasons,  and  it  would 
seem  that  the  economic  advantage  and  functions  of  the  urban 
as  distinct  from  the  rural  community  were 
among  the  later  reasons  for  these  aggregations 
of  people.  The  economist  must,  therefore,  seek  to  discover  if 
possible  when  people  came  to  live  in  towns  because  it  was 
economically  advantageous,  and  not  by  reason  of  political 
obligation  or  administrative  convenience.  In  an  age  that 
leaves  scant  record  of  its  doings,  it  is  perhaps  more  than  we 
should  expect  to  be  able  to  accomplish.  It  is  difficult  at  all 
tunes  to  ascertain  motives,  and  particularly  hi  the  middle 
ages.  But  it  is  important  to  recognize  problems  even  if  so- 
lutions are  not  forthcoming. 

The  period  that  elapses  between  the  Norman  Conquest 
and  the  thirteenth  century  was  not  marked  by  any  notable 
changes  hi  the  population  of  boroughs  and  towns,  so  far  as 
we  know,  but  the  changes  that  were  taking  place  in  the 
character  of  town  life  and  the  growth  of  commerce  and  in- 
dustry may  well  furnish  grounds  for  presuming  that  the  eco- 
nomic advantages  of  town  life  were  beginning  to  be  con- 
sciously felt  hi  England. 

1  Maitland,  F.  W.:  Township  and  Borough,  41. 


162  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

We  are  not  obliged  to  suppose  that  the  balance  of  motives 
was  identical  in  all  towns,  much  less  that  motives  were  iden- 
Growthof  tical  in  all  countries.  The  relatively  sparse 
towns  population  of  England  will  probably  explain  the 

differences  that  may  be  noted  between  England  and  the 
Continent.  Furthermore,  we  must  realize  that  there  were 
economic  factors  underlying  the  growth  of  the  larger  towns 
that  were  not  present  in  the  life  of  the  smaller  towns.  With 
all  these  qualifications  we  may  regard  the  thirteenth  century 
as  the  period  that  marks  the  undoubted  rise  to  importance  of 
the  economic  basis  of  urban  life.  Changes  took  place  in  the 
character  of  the  privileges  and  rights  of  towns.  Changes 
occurred  in  the  volume  of  trade  which  occasioned  significant 
development  of  fairs  and  markets.  Lastly,  the  woolen 
industry  rose  into  prominence  as  a  specialized  industrial 
occupation.  One  must  presume  that  these  changes  were 
closely  related,  and  it  would  seem  safe  to  say  that  the  eco- 
nomic factors  in  town  life  became  at  this  time  a  predominant 
factor  in  their  growth. 

The  constitutional  development  toward  the  incorporated 
town  is  therefore  roughly  contemporaneous  with  the  change 
The  idea  of  in  the  character  of  the  urban  unit  that  was  an 
a  corporation  outcome  of  the  increased  importance  of  the 
economic  factors  in  town  life.  Elements  of  corporate  per- 
sonality begin  to  emerge  in  the  thirteenth  century.  The 
idea  was  not  at  that  time  familiar  to  English  jurists,  however, 
and  though  there  were  many  features  of  municipal  organiza- 
tion that  implied  the  existence  of  corporate  personality,  the 
documents  do  not  recognize  this  fact  in  any  formal  state- 
ment. In  the  following  century  the  corporate  idea  begins 
to  appear  in  occasional  charters,  though  the  form  of  the  grant 
was  not  as  explicit  as  the  form  inaugurated  by  the  charter 
granted  the  town  of  Hull  in  1437.  The  towns  did  not  be- 
come full-fledged  corporations  until  a  relatively  late  period. 
They  were  not  "  complete  political  structures,"  to  use 
Schmoller's  phrase,  until  the  general  character  of  medieval 
life  was  fairly  well  fixed.  Much  of  the  commercial  structure 
of  the  middle  ages  had  taken  definite  form  before  the  munici- 


THE  TRADERS  AND  THE  TOWNS  163 

pal  constitution  was  sufficiently  developed  to  admit  of  much 
consistent  policy.  The  town  was  not  so  completely  "iso- 
lated" in  its  economic  relations  as  Schmoller  declared,  and 
the  period  of  its  political  power  coincided  with  the  declining 
prosperity  of  the  late  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries. 

In  England,  at  least,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  inter- 
mediate period  between  the  rise  of  the  town  as  an  urban  settle- 
ment hi  the  twelfth  century  and  the  acquisition  The  gad 
of  complete  corporate  privileges  in  the  four-  merchant 
teenth  and  fifteenth  centuries.  In  this  interval  the  gild 
merchant  was  of  vital  significance.  It  was  an  institution 
which  existed  in  conjunction  with  the  municipality  without 
ever  being  entirely  identified  with  the  town  either  in  its 
membership  or  its  official  staff.  Although  the  gild  merchant 
is  a  trading  organization  that  possessed  much  importance  in 
the  municipalities  it  can  be  studied  most  advantageously  in 
connec£ioh~with  the  other  types  of  English  gilds.  Its  exist- 
ence and  importance  afford  further  evidence  of  the  tendency 
already  mentioned  to  organize  the  trading  community  inde- 
pendently of  the  municipalities.  The  group  of  persons  living 
in  the  town  were  not  all  subject  to  the  same  jurisdiction. 
The  town  as  an  urban  center  was  distinct  from  the  municipal- 
ity, and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  the  municipal  charters  may 
obscure  the  commercial  organization  of  the  period  if  they 
are  literally  interpreted. 

The  medieval  town  differed  from  the  cities  of  the  ancient 
world  most  notably  in  the  greater  dependence  upon  the 
economic  bases  of  urban  life.  Adventitious  political  and 
administrative  elements,  which  had  contributed  largely  to 
the  beginnings  of  town  life,  sank  into  the  background. 
Towns  which  possessed  no  economic  advantages  lost  then* 
importance  and  were  distinguishable  from  villages  only  by 
their  privileges.  The  increased  emphasis  upon  trade  and 
industry  made  the  town  much  more  than  a  mere  county  seat 
—  fortress  and  moot-stow  for  the  little  rural 


communities  of  the  vicinity.   The  general  urban   importance  of 

movement  of  the  thirteenth  and  fourteenth  cen- 

turies was  part  of  the  commercial  development  of  western 


164  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Europe.  The  towns  became  part  of  the  economy  of  the  entire 
body  of  Christian  states,  and  each  town  thus  became  a  point 
of  contact  between  its  immediate  neighborhood  and  the  out- 
side world.  The  urban  communities  became  the  means  of 
promoting  the  economic  interdependence  of  the  European 
world. 

Social  life  of  the  medieval  period  is  perplexing  because  it 
seems  to  involve  a  paradox :  it  is  at  once  intensely  local  and 
Cosmopoii-  intensely  cosmopolitan.  Institutions,  particu- 
tamsm  larly  institutions  concerned  with  the  adminis- 

tration of  law,  were  highly  localized.  There  was  a  maximum 
degree  of  legal  decentralization.  Society  thus  seems  to  be 
divided  into  tiny  autonomous  units:  villages,  manors,  towns, 
and  privileged  ecclesiastical  bodies.  But  despite  this  appear- 
ance of  minute  subdivision  the  spirit  and  essence  of  medieval 
life  was  cosmopolitan.  Christendom  was  a  cultural  unit, 
and  despite  obstacles  that  loom  large  to  our  eyes,  there  were 
strong  currents  of  trade  and  much  travel.  This  general  cos- 
mopolitan movement  was  organized  about  the  towns,  and, 
whatever  the  appearances,  it  is  well  to  remember  that  all  the 
towns  found  their  ultimate  prosperity  in  maintaining  com- 
munications between  the  outside  world  and  the  little  rural 
communities  in  their  immediate  neighborhood. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND 


THE  interest  of  modern  readers  in  the  craft  gilds  of  the 
middle  ages  has  created  special  associations  between  the  gen- 
eral term  "gild"  and  this  particular  form  of  gild. 

A  i  e         -^  i     T         IT,      »  TT?    -r     Ambiguities 

A  number  of  writers,  including  Professor  W.  J. 
Ashley,  have  given  .added  currency  to  such  a  specialization 
of  meaning  by  using  the  phrase  "gild  system"  to  describe 
the  form  of  industrial  organization  which  is  more  precisely 
described  as  the  craft  or  handicraft  system.  This  laxity  of 
usage  has  been  peculiarly  unfortunate  because  it  adds  to  the 
obscurities  and  complexities  of  a  subject  that  is  beset  with  the 
difficulties  that  come  from  ambiguities  of  terminology  and 
misleading  connotations.  The  word  "gild,"  or  "guild,"  l 
is  derived  from  not  less  than  three  roots,  and  possesses,  there- 
fore, even  at  the  outset,  a  wide  range  of  meanings,  some  of 
which  have  no  significant  relation  to  each  other.  The  first  of 
these  roots  was  used  in  the  sense  of  payment,  compensation, 
offering,  sacrifice,  worship,  idol.  The  second  root  expressed 
the  notion  of  combined  or  collective  action,  a  meeting.  The 
third  root  was  associated  with  the  idea  of  a  banquet.  The 
word  was  thus  not  clearly  specialized  in  the  meaning  of  an 
association  and  might  refer  with  obvious  propriety  to  a 
number  of  different  kinds  of  societies. 

The  disposition  of  the  earlier  Teutonic  writers  to  trace  all 
gilds  to  a  common  Teutonic  origin  was  not  unnatural,  but  one 
cannot  help  feeling  that  this  unduly  literal  scholarship  added 
gratuitous  difficulties  to  the  problems  connected  Three  ^^ 
with  these  different  types  of  association.  Three 
distinct  types  of  society  might  be  described  as  gilds:  as- 

V  The  New  English  Dictionary  prefers  the  spelling  "guild,"  but  the  tendency 
in  economic  writing  seems  to  favor  the  shorter  form  "gild."  Gross,  Cun- 
ningham, Ashley,  Brentano,  Lipson,  and  Unwin  all  use  the  form  "gild." 


166  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sociatioixs  for  charitable  and  religious  purposes;  associations 
for  commercial  or  social  purposes;  and  associations  designed 
to  share  with  the  municipal  authority  the  supervision  of  fellow- 
craftsmen.  In  England  and  in  Germany  these  associations 
were  all  called  gilds,  though  there  were  usually  elements  hi 
the  name  of  the  society  that  would  be  sufficient  to  indicate 
the  general  purpose  of  the  association.  Religious  associa- 
tions were  usually  placed  under  the  patronage  of  some  saint, 
or  connected  with  the  celebration  of  some  religious  festival. 
Gilds  of  Corpus  Christi,  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  were  to  be  found  in  many  towns.  Some  of  these 
religious  titles  appear  in  connection  with  associations  that 
were  not  exclusively  religious  in  character,  for  merchant  and 
craft  gilds  were  sometimes  so  closely  identified  with  religious 
observances  that  the  religious  element  appeared  in  the  title. 
In  such  cases  it  would  seem  that  there  might  be  grounds  for 
searching  for  specific  evidence  of  the  actual  purposes  of  the 
gild. 

All  writers  have  recognized  that  these  three  types  are  some- 
what distinct,  but  many  have  insisted  that  the  growth  of 
these  different  forms  of  association  is  dominated  by  some 
common  principle.  This  thesis  was  given  wide  currency  by 
Professor  Brentano's  essay  on  the  "  Origin  and  Development 
of  Gilds,"  and  later  writers  hi  dealing  with  English  problems 
have  found  it  difficult  to  emancipate  themselves  from  the 
influences  of  the  misleading  suggestions  of  the  old  Anglo- 
Saxon  term.  The  French  terminology  is  different,  and 
French  dis-  French  writers  have  maintained  more  explicit 
tinctions  distinctions  among  these  various  forms  of  asso- 

ciation. The  religious  association  is  designated  by  a  special 
term  both  in  Latin  and  in  French  (fraternitas-confr&rie). 
The  merchant  gild  for  some  reason  as  yet  unexplained  has 
left  little  trace  in  the  history  of  French  commerce.  A  de- 
rivative from  the  root  "gild"  appears  in  French  terminology 
in  this  connection.  The  craft  gild  is  designated  by  the  term 
"me" tier,"  the  general  term  for  craft.  It  is  therefore  neces- 
sary to  distinguish  in  French  between  the  organized  and 
unorganized  crafts,  and  thus  we  have  the  "me" tier  libre"  — 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     167 

a  mere  group  of  unorganized  craftsmen  distinguished  from 
the  " me" tier  jure","  the  chartered  craft  whose  members  swear 
to  observe  the  statutes  of  the  organization.  The  confrerie, 
or  religious  fraternity,  plays  about  the  same  role  in  France  as 
the  religious  "gild"  in  England. 

There  may  have  been  significant  differences  in  the  devel- 
opment of  the  gild  merchant  in  France,  but  we  can  at  least 
affirm  that  such  associations  existed.  The  craft  gilds  in 
France  and  in  England  also  exhibit  differences  of  form.  The 
most  notable  difference  in  the  history  of  gilds  in  the  two 
countries  is  that  in  France  these  forms  appear  more  clearly 
to  be  different  kinds  of  associations.  The  members  of  these 
societies  were  drawn  from  a  single  class,  and  in  many  cases 
the  same  people  belonged  to  two  societies  or  gilds;  the  differ- 
ent forms  thus  exerted  curious  reciprocal  influences  upon 
each  other,  as  they  were  all  a  part  of  the  daily  life  of  a  fairly 
definite  group.  The  close  relations  of  the  different  forms  of 
gild  to  each  other  cannot  be  effectively  studied,  however, 
unless  the  larger  differences  of  form  and  purpose  are  care- 
fully distinguished. 

In  commenting  upon  the  statutes  of  three  Anglo-Saxon 
gilds,  Professor  Brentano  says: 

The  essence  of  the  manifold  regulations  of  the  statutes  of  these 
three  gilds  appears  to  be  the  brotherly  banding  together  into  close 
unions  between  man  and  man,  sometimes  even  es-  Brentano's 
tablished  and  fortified  by  oath,  for  the  purpose  of  thesis 
mutual  help  and  support.     This  essential  characteristic  is  found 
in  all  the  Gilds  of  every  age,  from  those  first  known  to  us  in  detail, 
to  their  descendants  of  the  present  day,  the  Trade  Unions.    Ac- 
cording to  the  variety  of  wants  and  interests  at  various  times,  the 
aims,  arrangements,  and  rules  of  these  unions  have  also  varied.1 

This  statement  errs  in  two  respects:  in  attributing  a  frater- 
nal purpose  to  the  craft  gild,  and  in  alleging  a  direct  connec- 
tion between  these  early  associations  among  artisans  and  the 
modern  trade  union. 

The  fact  that  a  single  term  was  applied  to  a  variety  of 
organizations  in  the  middle  ages  can  hardly  be  taken  as  evi- 
1  Brentano,  L. :  The  Origin  and  Development  of  Gilds,  3. 


168  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

dence  of  a  common  purpose,  and  it  happens  that  there  is  fairly 
Misplaced  definite  evidence  that  there  was  no  clear  fra- 
emphasis  ternal  element  in  the  craft  gild  of  the  pure  type. 
In  the  course  of  development  in  England  the  religious  and 
industrial  organizations  of  craftsmen  frequently  became  one 
society  rather  than  two  parallel  organizations  of  the  same 
persons.  To  that  extent  a  fraternal  element  crept  into  the 
craft  organizations,  but  it  would  be  an  exaggeration  to  sup- 
pose that  the  craft  gild  was  in  general  a  kind  of  fraternity. 
Both  on  the  Continent  and  in  England  the  religious  society 
and  the  administrative  organization  of  the  craft  were  distinct; 
they  were  different  organizations  of  essentially  the  same 
group  of  men.  Although  the  modern  trade  union  is  not  com- 
parable to  the  craft  gild,  the  relation  between  workingmen's 
benefit  societies  and  the  trade  union  is  substantially  similar 
to  the  relation  that  existed  between  the  religious  fraternity 
;  and  the  craft  gildj  These  various  kinds  of  gilds  are  not 
merely  variations  from  a  common  type,  but  essentially  dif- 
ferent organizations,  owing  their  origin  to  widely  different 
circumstances  and  having  notably  different  functions  and 
purposes. 

II.  THE  RELIGIOUS  GILDS 

Scattered  evidence  of  religious  organizations  begins  to 
appear  in  the  Saxon  period,  but  no  considerable  mass  of  evi- 
dence about  such  bodies  is  available  until  the  late  fourteenth 
century.  In  1389  the  King  ordered  an  inquiry  into  the  prop- 
erty and  regulations  of  these  gilds.  Each  gild  was  thus  re- 
quired to  make  some  statement  of  its  purposes  and  of  the 
property  in  its  possession.  A  large  number  of  the  replies  of 
the  gilds  are  still  extant.  These  documents  comprise  the 
primary  source  of  knowledge  of  such  gilds.  'Many  of  the 
gilds  had  doubtless  been  in  existence  a  long  time,  but  it  is 
seldom  possible  to  trace  their  history  into  the  remote  past. 
We  cannot  even  be  certain  that  the  religious  gild  of  that  pe- 
riod was  substantially  similar  to  the  earlier  organizations  to 
which  references  exist.  It  would  seem,  however,  that  cer- 
tain common  purposes  were  present  in  all  such  associations. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND    169 

The  gilds  were  formed  primarily  to  insure  the  celebration 
of  masses  for  the  souls  of  deceased  members.  This  general 
purpose  naturally  included  the  funeral  ceremonies,  and  in 
some  cases  an  appropriate  funeral  was  guaran-  _ 

^^     *  Purposes 

teed  to  members.  In  order  to  assure  the  say- 
ing of  the  masses,  the  gild  was  usually  endowed  with  prop- 
erty whose  revenue  was  applied  to  the  payment  of  gild 
chaplains.  Because  this  property  was  really  devoted  to  re- 
ligious purposes  it  became  a  matter  of  real  concern  to  dis- 
cover the  amount  of  gild  property.  The  inquiry  of  1389  was 
inspired  by  royal  jealousy  of  ecclesiastical  endowments,  and 
soon  afterward  the  general  statute  of  mortmain  was  declared 
to  be  applicable  to  gild  property.  The  growth  of  the  re- 
ligious gilds  was  thus  restricted,  and  at  the  time  of  the  Ref- 
ormation these  gilds  were  technically  dissolved,  though  they 
were  in  many  instances  able  to  reorganize  under  new  names 
with  new  charters. 

Although  the  celebration  of  religious  services  was  the  gen- 
eral and  primary  function,  the  activities  of  the  gilds  were  not 
confined  to  such  things.  Schools  were  frequently  maintained 
by  the  gilds  and  one  of  the  colleges  at  Cambridge  was  en- 
dowed by  the  gild  of  Saint  Mary  and  Corpus  Christi.  Relief 
was  usually  given  to  brothers  or  sisters  who  were  in  distress 
through  sickness  or  poverty. 

These  religious  fraternities  were  usually  composed  of  a 
number  of  people  worshiping  in  the  same  church.  In  many 
cases  a  number  of  members  of  a  single  craft 

.  .  .  -it,.          i  i>         Membership 

might  be  prominent  in  the  gild,  for  the  crafts- 
men were  usually  grouped  in  one  or  more  districts  of  the 
town  and  would  thus  naturally  worship  at  the  same  church. 
But  even  in  these  cases  the  craft  was  not  really  the  basis  of 
the  organization.  jPersons  not  of  the  craft  would  be  in- 
cluded, and  women  were  more  freely  admitted  to  these  gilds 
than  to  the  craft  associations.  Nor  should  one  suppose  that 
these  gilds  were  composed  exclusively  of  artisans.  The  rolls 
of  the  Gilds  of  Saint  Mary  and  Corpus  Christi  at  Cam- 
bridge contain  many  names  that  have  no  occupational  desig- 
nation with  them;  the  proper  inference  from  such  silence  is 


170  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

of  course  uncertain,  but  it  is  not  unlikely  that  such  persons 
would  have  been  merchants  or  persons  whose  income  was 
derived  from  land. 

There  is  no  certain  basis  of  information  as  to  the  usual 
number  of  members,  but  lists  of  founders  or  charter  mem- 
bers are  in  most  cases  short,  seldom  more  than  ten  or  a  dozen 
names.  Thus: 

In  the  17th  year  of  King  Edward  the  Third,  Ralph  Capeleyn, 
Bailiff;  William  Double,  Fishmonger;  Roger  Clonyill,  chandler; 
Henry  Boseworth,  Vintner;  Stephen  Lucas,  Stockfishmonger;  and 
others  of  the  better  sort  of  the  parish  of  St.  Magnus  near  London 
Bridge  .  .  .  commenced  and  caused  to  be  sung  an  anthem  of  our 
Lady  called  Salve  Regina  at  every  vesper,  and  ordained  candles 
to  burn  at  the  time  of  the  said  anthem  in  honour  and  reverence  of 
the  five  principal  joys  of  our  Lady,  and  to  excite  the  people  to  devo- 
tion. .  .  .  Whereupon  several  other  good  people  of  the  same  parish 
seeing  the  great  seemliness  of  this  service  and  devotion  proffered  to 
be  aiders  and  partners  in  sustaining  the  lights  and  anthem,  by 
paying  each  person  every  week  a  half  penny,  and  soon  after  .  .  . 
they  commenced  to  find  a  chaplain  to  sing  in  the  said  church  for  all 
benefactors  of  the  light  and  anthem.1 

Once  established  the  gild  was  likely  to  grow  to  considerable 
proportions. 

These  gilds  elected  their  own  officers,  usually  a  warden  and 
alderman,  at  times  a  clerk,  or  treasurer,  and  a  summoner. 
These  officials  were  presumed  to  exercise  the 
necessary  administrative  functions  and  in  addi- 
tion to  adjust  disputes  among  the  members  of  the  gild.    New 
rules  and  regulations  were  made  in  the  general  meetings  of 
the  gild  as  a  whole.    These  business  meetings   should  be 
distinguished  from  the  general  assemblies  of  the  members 
I  at  funerals  or  church  service,  and  likewise  from  the  feasts 
•  held  each  year.l  At  all  these  occasions,  however,  the  mem- 
bers of  most  London  gilds  and  of  various  gilds  in  other 
towns  appeared  in  a  distinctive  costume  or  livery.    This 
costume  was  made  at  the  direction  of  the  wardens  and  paid 
for  by  members  at  cost.    If  complete  it  consisted  of  both 
hood  and  gown,  but  sometimes  the  hood  was  allowed  to  suffice. 
1  Cited,  Unwin,  G.:  Guilds  and  Companies  of  London,  115. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     171 

There  is  reference  at  times  to  the  secrets  of  the  gilds,  and 
there  are  many  indications  that  the  authorities  at  all  times 
distrusted  these  religious  organizations,  fearing  apparently 
that  other  purposes  were  concealed  beneath  these  profes- 
sions of  religious  zeal  and  charitable  intentions.  In  the  early 
times,  too,  the  Church  distrusted  them.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  the  religious  gilds  of  London,  locally  known  as  the 
parish  gilds,  seem  to  have  had  covert  political  significance. 
But  of  these  matters  there  is  no  proof. 

III.  THE  GILD  MERCHANT 

The  gild  merchant  presents  a  most  complex  array  of  prob- 
lems: there  are  certain  elements  of  kinship  with  the  religious 
gilds;  some  powers  were  exercised  that  were  later  the  peculiar 
privilege  of  the  craft  gilds;  and  some  of  the  general  concerns 
of  the  town  were  administered  by  the  gild  merchant  with  a 
measure  of  autonomy  difficult  of  comprehension  to  modern 
minds.  The  gild  merchant  was  frequently  dedicated  to  some 
patron  saint,  or  associated  with  some  church  festival,  and 
the  pious  observances  of  the  simple  religious  gilds  were  main- 
tained. The  fraternal  elements  are  also  conspicuous.  Sick 
members  were  frequently  cared  for;  members  Fraternal 
who  fell  into  poverty  were  given  a  small  stipend,  elements 
and  if  a  member  were  imprisoned  the  officers  of  the  gild  were 
in  many  cases  required  to  procure  his  deliverance  if  possible. 
These  features  of  the  gild  merchant  owed  their  origin  to  the 
circumstances  that  led  to  the  rise  of  the  religious  gilds. 

The  relation  to  the  craft  gilds  is  a  matter  of  greater  im- 
portance. It  would  seem  that  the  gild  merchant  exercised  a 
general  supervision  over  the  crafts,  substan-  control  of 
tially  similar  to  the  supervision  that  was  later  crafts 
exercised  separately  by  the  individual  crafts.  The  very 
important  inspection  of  all  manufactured  goods  sold  was  in 
the  early  period  exercised  by  the  general  gild  merchant. 
Bad  workmanship  was  punished.  Rules  were  laid  down 
with  reference  to  the  exercise  of  various  crafts.  It  would 
seem,  therefore,  that  the  craft  gilds  were  in  a  sense  subsidi- 
ary organizations,  designed  to  discharge  more  completely 


172  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

and  adequately  powers  which  required  a  detailed  knowledge 
of  the  craft  not  readily  acquired  by  outsiders.  In  some  in- 
stances this  splitting-off  of  the  larger  crafts  from  the  general 
gild  merchant  can  be  traced  in  detail.  Weavers  or  other 
craftsmen  would  meet  surreptitiously  in  the  gild  rooms  to 
make  rules  for  themselves,  thus  assuming  to  act  with  the 
authority  of  the  entire  gild.  But  although  there  are  in- 
stances of  this  sort,  it  would  seem  that  in  general  the  crafts 
received  their  grants  of  authority  directly  from  the  munici- 
pality or  from  the  KingJ"  The  process  of  specialization  of 
Craft  gilds  function  within  the  gild  merchant,  if  it  actually 
independent  occurred,  was  obscured  by  this  reference  to  the 
ultimate  administrative  authorities.  For  the  most  part, 
the  relationship  between  the  gild  merchant  and  the  craft  gild 
in  England  was  not  very  close. 

The  craft  organizations  have  been  presumed  by  some  to 
represent  some  measure  of  opposition  between  the  wealthy 
merchants  and  the  less  well-to-do  artisans.  In  some  of  the 
German  cities  there  were  serious  class  conflicts  between  these 
groups,  and  the  craft  gilds  rose  to  power  on  the  ruins  of  the 
older  institution.  In  England  there  is  little  evidence  of  any 
general  struggle  between  the  artisans  and  the  merchants, 
and/It  is  hardly  likely  that  the  formation  of  the  craft  gilds 
was  merely  due  to  specialization  of  functions  within  the 
larger  association. 

The  larger  importance  of  the  gild  merchant  historically  lies 
in  the  close  relation  between  it  and  the  municipality.  This 
Generalization  has  been  the  subject  of  much  controversy,  but 
unsound  ^e  researches  of  Gross  have  shown  that  the 

earlier  writers  were  guilty  of  generalizing  from  insufficient 
evidence  on  a  subject  that  is  ill-adapted  to  any  generalization 
at  all.  Gross  says: 

"  Any  complete  generalization  upon  the  constitutional  history  of 
the  towns  is  impossible  for  this  reason,  that  their  history  does  not 
start  from  one  point  or  proceed  by  the  same  stages."  Though  all 
the  boroughs  had  much  in  common,  and  the  constitutions  of  many 
were  modelled  after  the  same  exemplar,  each  had  a  separate  life, 
developing  a  personality  of  its  own;  nor  had  Parliament  yet  begun 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     173 

to  legislate  away  these  individual  peculiarities.  While,  then,  the 
general  principles  laid  down  in  this  chapter  touching  the  non- 
identity  of  gild  and  borough  will  apply  in  most  cases,  there  were 
doubtless  local  variations,  ranging  from  practically  complete 
amalgamation  of  the  two  elements  to  the  other  extreme  of  open 
antagonism. x 

The  gild  merchant  was  an  important  but  subsidiary  part 
of  the  administrative  machinery  of  the  borough.     It  was 
subordinated  to  the  town  magistrates,  but  en-  Functionsof 
joyed  a  greater  degree  of  autonomy  than  any  thegiid 
modern  department  of  municipal  government. 
The  general  administration  of  the  borough  was  in  the  hands 
of  the  borough  assembly.     This  assembly  elected  both  ad- 
ministrative and  judicial  officers,  who  thus  executed  both 
civil  and  criminal  law.     The  gild  merchant  was  charged  with 
the  regulation  of  trade,  the  supervision  of  the  crafts,  and 
with  certain  judicial  or  quasi-judicial  functions  with  reference 
to  commercial  matters,  primarily  disputes  among  members 
of  the  gild. 

The  jBssential  privilege  of  the  gild  was  the  monopoly  of 
trade  withmtEe  towin.    In  the  letter  of  the  law  this  monopoly 
was  absolute  and  Its  enforcement  would  seem  Monopoly 
to  suggest  the  policy  of  municipal  selfishness  oftrade 
which  is  the  basis  of  the  old  idea  of  a  "town  economy." 
The  monopoly  of  trade  was,  however,  less  restrictive  in  fact 
than  would  appear  on  the  surface  of  the  regulations.     The 
clause,  "  so  that  no  one  who  is  not  of  the  gild  may  trade  in 
the  said  town,  except  with  the  consent  of  the  burgesses," 
seems  categorical:  the  actual  significance  of  the  monopoly 
was  in  fact  qualified  by  the  admission  of  non-  its  actual 
residents  to  the  privileges  of  the  gild,  and  by  the  •i«nifl«««« 
extension  of  privileges  of  wholesale  trading  to  non-members 
upon  the  payment  of  certain  duties.    The  actual  rigidity  of 
the  gild  monopoly  thus  turns  entirely  upon  the  proportion  of 
resident  to  non-resident  members,  a  subject  upon  which  we 
are  not  well  informed.     In  Dublin,  between  1225  and  1250 
about  one  half  the  free  citizens  were  non-residents,  so  far  as 
1  Gross,  Charles:  The  Gild  Merchant,  i,  72-73. 


174  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

may  be  judged  from  the  place  names  that  follow  the  names 
of  the  citizens,  and  in  the  list  of  one  hundred  and  ninety- 
one  persons  admitted  to  the  gild  merchant  of  Dublin  in 
1226,  ninety-six  were  non-residents.  The  records  of  Leicester 
reveal  a  large  non-resident  membership  in  the  gild  merchant, 
and  there  is  no  reason  to  believe  that  these  towns  were  excep- 
tional. Unfortunately  we  have  few  lists  of  members  of  the 
gild  merchant,  and  little  work  has  been  done  on  the  lists  we 
have.  Still  it  is  clear  that  we  must  not  assume  membership 
to  be  confined  to  residents. 

The  resident  population  of  a  town  was  not  identical  with 
either  the  municipal  corporation  or  the  gild  merchant. 
Membership  Neither  of  these  bodies  were  local  bodies  in  the 
inclusive  sense  that  we  would  naturally  suppose  from  our 

modern  conceptions  of  citizenship  and  towns.  Persons  liv- 
ing in  the  vicinity  and  persons  living  in  privileged  jurisdic- 
tions within  the  town  were  freely  admitted  to  membership 
in  the  gild  merchant,  though  they  were  usually  excluded 
from  citizenship.  The  necessities  of  trade  made  it  essential 
to  adopt  a  relatively  broad  policy,  and  the  differences  between 
the  body  of  citizens  and  the  body  of  members  of  the  gild 
merchant  amounted  to  an  enfranchisement  of  commerce. 
Members  of  religious  houses  were  by  necessity  excluded  from 
citizenship  even  if  the  order  was  physically  situate  in  the 
town,  but  these  monastic  houses  were  important  commer- 
cially both  by  reason  of  the  quantities  of  wool  at  their  dis- 
posal and  by  reason  of  their  purchase  of  raw  materials  and 
manufactures.  The  country  gentry,  too,  might  well  find  it 
convenient  to  possess  trading  privileges  in  the  neighboring 
town.  Merchants  with  definite  trading  interests  in  a  small 
group  of  towns  would  find  it  specially  advantageous  to  be 
members  of  the  gild  merchant  in  each  of  the  towns  in  which 
they  had  commercial  concerns.  The  gild  merchant  was  thus 
an  extension  of  facilities  for  trading  rather  than  a  restrictive 
feature;  it  supplemented  the  markets  and  the  fairs. 

There  were  restrictions  upon  the  complete  freedom  of 
trade.  Casual  merchants  could  not  come  to  a  town  when  no 
fair  was  in  progress  and  sell  their  wares  in  competition  with 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     175 

the  merchants  who  were  regularly  doing  business  in  the  place. 
Many  incidents  can  be  found  of  determined  Actual  restrio 
opposition  to  such  sporadic  trading  by  aliens  or  tions  on  trade 
foreigners.  The  payment  of  dues  required  of  non-members 
is  also  a  matter  that  requires  some  care  in  interpretation. 
The  dues  were  in  most  instances  seignorial  or  royal  dues  from 
which  the  gild  as  a  whole  had  secured  exemption  by  paying 
an  annual  sum  into  the  royal  treasury.  This  sum  was 
doubtless  smaller  than  a  sum  representing  an  exact  capital- 
ization of  the  dues  chargeable.  By  paying  a  lump  sum  the 
gild  members  reduced  the  fiscal  burden  and  escaped  many 
exactions  to  which  they  would  otherwise  have  been  subject, 
but  there  was  some  justice  in  requiring  non-members  to  pay 
dues,  inasmuch  as  they  did  not  contribute  to  the  general 
payment  to  the  royal  treasury. 

It  will  be  evident  that  the  extent  and  nature  of  the  com- 
mercial monopoly  exercised  by  the  gild  merchant  can  easily 
be  misunderstood.  Generalization  is  hazardous,  whether 
with  reference  to  particular  towns  or  to  particular  periods. 
These  strictures  upon  the  theory  of  exclusiveness  are  not 
designed  to  be  generalizations,  but  merely  indications  of  the 
dangers  of  interpreting  literally  these  various  terms  which 
have  in  all  cases  taken  on  new  meanings  in  our  modern  life. 
The  gild  had  a  monopoly  of  trade,  but  it  was  in  fact  an  inclu- 
sive monopoly.  Both  town  and  gild  have  left  record  of  a 
policy  of  the  closed  door;  but  it  is  easy  to  forget  that  pains 
were  taken  to  get  everybody  inside  before  the  door  was 
closed. 

The  right  to  participate  in  the  bargains  of  fellow-gildsmen 
is  indicative  of  the  inclusive  character  of  the  gild  monopoly. 
The  ordinances  of  the  gild  merchant  at  South-  sharing  of 
ampton  provide  "that  a  gildsman  shall  have  a  bar8ains 
share  in  all  the  merchandise  which  another  gildsman  buys,  if 
he  is  on  the  spot  where  the  merchandise  is  bought."  At  Ber- 
wick even  those  who  were  not  present  at  the  transaction  were 
allowed  to  share,  provided  that  they  paid  the  buyer  twelve 
pence  for  profit.     "This  privilege,"  says  Lipson,  "was  in- 
tended to  foster  equality,  and  protect  the  poor  from  falling 


176  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

into  the  hands  of  the  few.  It  embodied  the  principle  that 
every  burgess  should  have  a  share  in  the  trade  sufficient  for 
the  maintenance  of  himself  and  his  family."  The  gild  at 
times  engaged  in  joint  purchases.  In  a  number  of  towns  the 
trade  in  specified  articles  was  restricted  to  the  officers  of 
the  gild  in  their  official  capacity.  The  profits  were  turned 
into  a  common  purse.  Aliens  were  at  times  required  to 
make  tender  of  their  entire  cargo  to  the  gild  as  a  whole,  and 
were  thus  subjected  to  many  delays  and  restrictions.  It  was 
an  attempt  to  promote  the  interests  of  gild  members  mingled 
with  jealousy  and  ill-will  toward  the  alien  and  foreigner. 

The  organiztaion  of  the  gild  merchant  was  similar  to  that 

of  most  gilds.     The  primary  source  of  authority  was  the 

general  assembly  of  all  the  members.     For  ad- 

Orgamzation  .....  ,  i  .   . 

mimstrative  purposes  an  alderman  and  assist- 
ants were  elected.  There  were  from  two  to  four  assistants 
designated  by  names  that  varied  in  the  different  towns: 
stewards,  echevins,  and  wardens  were  the  terms  most  used. 
There  were  at  times  subordinate  officials :  f arthingmen,  leve- 
lookers,  gildans,  heyners,  tasters,  cup-bearers,  ushers,  door- 
keepers, a  dean,  clerks,  a  treasurer,  a  marshal,  sergeants, 
collectors,  bailiffs,  and  provosts.  The  functions  of  these 
minor  officials  are  not  wholly  certain.  The  meetings  were 
called  "gilds,"  or  "morning  talks."  They  were  held  annu- 
ally, semi-annually,  or  quarterly,  for  the  purpose  of  admit- 
ting new  members,  inflicting  penalties  for  failure  to  observe 
the  statutes,  or  making  new  ordinances.  Both  at  these 
regular  meetings  and  on  special  occasions  there  was  much 
eating  and  drinking:  "drinkings  with  spiced  cake  bread  and 
sundry  wines,  the  cups  serving  merrily  about  the  house." 

IV.  THE  CRAFT  GILDS 

The  study  of  the  conditions  at  Paris  at  the  close  of  the 

thirteenth  century  was  designed  to  suggest  that  the  essential 

feature  of  a  craft  gild  was  the  right  to  elect 

Craft  gilds  .    l)  ° 

wardens  to  exercise  the  view  of  the  craft. 
The  craft  gild,  according  to  this  interpretation,  is  to  be 
conceived  as  a  body  of  craftsmen  possessed  of  some  meas- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     177 

ure  of  autonomous  power.  The  organization  would  become 
a  definite  part  of  the  municipal  administration,  exercising 
powers  that  would  otherwise  be  within  the  province  of  the 
municipality.  This  conception  is  in  general  applicable  to 
English  conditions,  but  there  are  subordinate  forms  of  gilds 
which  might  easily  be  a  source  of  confusion. 

Associations  of  craftsmen  are  found  which  are  not  craft 
gilds  in  any  technical  sense,  notably  religious  gilds  composed 
primarily  of  members  of  a  single  craft.  Reli-  other  associa. 
gious  gilds  can  usually  be  distinguished  from  tions  of  crafts- 
true  craft  gilds  by  their  more  inclusive  member- 
ship and  their  fraternal  and  spiritual  purposes.  .  More  serious 
confusion  can  arise  with  reference  to  organizations  of  crafts- 
men that  received  charters  from  the  King.  Grants  of  priv- 
ilege from  the  King  were  not  uncommon  in  the  early  period, 
and  after  the  Reformation  they  become  particularly  impor- 
tant. It  may  seem  pedantic  to  distinguish  these  two  types 
of  grant  of  power,  but  it  will  be  evident  that  the  King  could 
grant  privileges  that  could  not  be  secured  from  a  municipal- 
ity. A  town  could  grant  the  "view"  of  the  craft  in  that 
town,  the  King  could  grant  the  "view"  of  the  craft  in  the 
kingdom  as  a  whole.  Royal  grants  frequently  carried  ex- 
emptions from  supervision  by  the  municipal  authorities. 
Such  grants  were  usually  made  to  alien  craftsmen  settling  in 
England,  and  in  such  cases  the  grant  included  two  distinct 
sets  of  privileges.  The  King  alone  could  grant  authority  to 
hold  property  in  a  corporate  capacity,  so  that  the  craft  gild 
could  not  become  an  endowed  corporation  without  a  royal 
grant.  After  the  Reformation  this  power  became  particu- 
larly desirable  and  many  of  the  crafts  sought  royal  charters 
and  paid  good  prices  for  them.  The  history  of  organizations 
of  craftsmen  in  England  is  thus  complex  to  a  degree,  and 
many  of  these  forms  cannot  be  adequately  described  as  gilds; 
in  the  later  period  the  term  "company"  was  usually  applied. 

Apart  from  the  royal  charters  granted  to  groups  of  aliens, 
which  begin  to  appear  in  the  fourteenth  cen-  chartered 
tury,  there  are  instances  of  a  significant  exercise  orgjmuatfo118 
of  the  royal  prerogative  in  behalf  of  native  artisans.    The 


178  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

history  of  London  affords  the  clearest  evidence  of  the  char- 
acter and  purport  of  these  early  grants,  though  these  cases 
are  not  unique  by  any  means.  The  Bakers,  the  Fishmongers, 
and  the  Weavers  of  London  obtained  privileges  from  the 
King,  so  that  they  formed  definite  jurisdictions  before  the 
founding  of  the  municipality  in  1191.  All  three  of  these 
groups  of  artisans  stood  outside  the  municipal  constitution. 
Closely  associated  with  these  groups  of  artisans  were  similar 
bodies  that  are  designated  as  the  "adulterine"  gilds.  They 
seem  to  have  been  organized  after  the  same  general  manner, 
though  they  had  no  royal  grant  of  privilege,  or  at  least  no 
recognized  grant.  These  organizations,  particularly  in  Lon- 
don, exerted  a  profound  influence  upon  the  municipal  insti- 
tutions that  took  form  soon  afterward. 

There  were  thus  three  distinct  types  of  craft  organization 
designated  casually  as  gilds:  religious  gilds  of  craftsmen;  au- 
tonomous crafts,  possessed  of  no  general  political  or  juris- 
dictional  privileges;  craft  organizations  chartered  by  the 
King  having  perhaps  the  right  to  hold  property,  the  right  to 
supervise  the  craft  throughout  a  considerable  area,  and  pos- 
sibly the  right  to  hold  court  independently  of  the  municipal 
authority.  The  presence  of  these  variant  forms  makes  it 
essential  to  form  some  judgment  of  the  purposes  and  impor- 
tance of  each,  and  for  this  reason  the  suggestions  to  be  de- 
rived from  comparisons  with  French  conditions  would  seem 
to  be  of  special  importance. 

The  autonomous  craft  gild  charged  by  the  municipality 
with  the  supervision  of  the  craft  in  that  town  was  typical  in 
The  typical  the  sense  that  such  an  organization  tended  to 
craft  gild  become  established  in  the  crafts  that  were  suf- 
ficiently large  to  make  such  organization  practicable.  In  the 
smaller  towns,  and  with  reference  to  the  less  important  crafts, 
such  organizations  emerge  at  a  late  period,  but  with  the  ex- 
ception of  colonies  of  aliens  such  organizations  tended  to 
become  the  basis  of  the  administrative  control  of  industry. 
When  royal  incorporation  of  native  craftsmen  became  com- 
mon in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  purposes  of  the  organiza- 
tion were  altered  in  a  number  of  respects  so  that  the  frequent 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     179 

designation  of  these  later  associations  as  " companies"  indi- 
cates a  change  in  character  as  well  as  a  change  in  name. 

The  tendencies  and  ideals  of  municipal  administration 
are  illustrated  by  the  project  for  the  reorganization  of  the 
crafts  at  Norwich  that  is  sketched  in  the  "  Composition"  of 
1415  and  embodied  in  the  ordinances  of  1449.  The  "  Com- 
position" of  1415  was  a  compromise  between  the  general 
body  of  citizens  and  a  small  group  that  seemed  to  be  on  the 
verge  of  acquiring  oligarchic  powers.  In  order  to  prevent 
the  government  of  the  city  from  falling  into  the  hands  of  this 
oligarchy,  the  form  of  government  was  altered  in  a  number 
of  respects.  The  specific  provision  for  a  larger  measure  of 
craft  autonomy  may  have  had  some  definite  relation  to  local 
political  conditions,  but  the  scheme  sketched  in  1415  is  so 
largely  the  embodiment  of  common  ideals  that  it  would  seem 
that  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to  the  crisis  in  municipal  politics 
for  the  record  rather  than  for  the  ideals  expressed. 

It  is  ordained  that  each  craft  in  the  City  shall  freely  and  yearly 
choose  of  each  craft  within  itself  two  masters  for  the  year  coming, 
the  which  two  masters  shall  be  presented  by  bill  Regulations 
written  to  the  Mayor  by  the  men  of  the  same  craft.  at  Norwich 
The  which  masters  at  a  certain  day  .  .  .  shall  be  charged  to  make 
good  and  true  search  in  the  craft  of  all  defaults  in  the  craft.  .  .  . 
And  all  the  defaults  that  they  find  in  the  craft  shall  be  well  and 
truly  presented  to  the  Mayor  without  concealment.  And  the 
defaults  so  presented  .  .  .  shall  be  judged  and  fines  imposed  accord- 
ing to  the  gravity  of  the  offense.  One  half  of  the  fine  shall  be  paid 
to  the  sheriffs  and  one  half  to  the  masters  of  the  craft.  .  .  .  And  if 
there  be  any  craft  that  needeth  to  be  searched  and  will  not  have  a 
search,  the  Mayor  shall  send  for  the  craft  and  charge  them  to 
choose  two  masters  within  its  members.  And  if  they  will  not 
choose  and  present  the  names  within  eight  days  next  following  then 
it  shall  be  lawful  to  the  Mayor  ...  to  choose  two  members  of  the 
craft  and  to  give  them  charge  to  make  good  and  true  search  in  the 
manner  aforesaid. l 

The  powers  of  the  wardens  are  more  specifically  described 
in  the  general  ordinance  of  1449: 

Which  wardens  and  the  said  persons  assigned  and  named  for 
the  common  council  of  the  craft .  .  .  shall  have  full  power,  author- 
1  Hudson,  W.,  and  Tingey,  J.  C.:  Select  Records  of  Norwich,  i,  105. 


180 

ity,  and  jurisdiction  to  judge  defaults  found  by  the  wardens  and 
impose  fines,  and  also  to  provide,  make,  and  ordain  all  manner  of 
lawful  ordenances,  constitutions,  acts,  and  penalties,  and  the  acts, 
ordenances,  and  constitutions,  where  they  be  hard,  grievous,  or 
defective  to  remedy,  reform,  and  amend  as  often  as  seemeth  to  them 
expedient.  Providing  always  that  such  acts,  constitutions,  ordi- 
nances, and  penalties,  made  or  to  be  made,  be  not  put  into  execution 
until  the  Mayor  and  Aldermen  or  the  most  part  of  them  have  over- 
seen it  and  examined  it,  and,  until  by  the  assent  of  the  Common 
Council  of  the  city,  it  is  confirmed,  enacted,  and  enrolled  in  the 
chamber  of  the  city.1 

The  ordinance  then  proceeded  to  make  arrangements  for 

the  problem  presented  by  crafts  which  were  too  small  to  have 

an  entirely  independent  organization.     It  is 

The  small  crafts  .,.,,,  ,.         ,  ,       . 

implied  that  many  disorders  and  abuses  had 
been  common  in  the  past  because  such  small  crafts  were 
not  supervised.  It  was  accordingly  provided  that  all  small 
crafts  should  be  united  to  larger,  but  related,  crafts  for  the 
purposes  of  administration.  Thus,  the  smiths  should  have 
joined  to  them  the  bladesmiths,  locksmiths,  and  lorimers. 
Some  element  of  autonomy,  however,  was  provided  for  all 
crafts:  the  search  of  the  craft  was  in  all  cases  to  be  in  the 
hands  of  some  member;  if  there  were  seven  or  more  persons 
in  the  craft  the  warden  should  be  elected;  if  less  than 
seven,  a  warden  was  to  be  appointed  by  the  Mayor. 
Search  of  the  craft  was  presumed  to  be  made  once  every 
three  months  or  oftener. 

This  arrangement,  though  primarily  administrative,  re- 
veals an  intrusion  of  other  than  administrative  elements. 
The  purposes  of  these  unions  of  small  crafts  with  larger  ones 
seems  to  have  been  religious  and  spectacular.  The  crafts 
or  unions  of  crafts  had  special  uniforms  or  liveries  which  were 
to  be  worn  by  all  members  when  they  assembled  at  meetings 
for  business  or  worship,  and,  most  particularly,  when  they 
marched  or  rode  in  the  processions  at  the  inauguration  of  the 
Mayor,  or  on  the  feast  days  that  were  celebrated  by  pageants. 
On  such  occasions  it  was  desirable  to  maintain  groupings 
that  would  insure  a  more  equable  distribution  of  the  financial 
1  Hudson,  W.,  and  Tingey,  J.  C.:  op.  tit.,  n,  280. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     181 

burdens  of  the  pageants.  Religious  purposes,  therefore, 
tended  to  complicate  the  social  organization  of  the  craftsmen 
by  creating  associations  which  overlapped,  and  by  rendering 
uncertain  the  relations  between  the  fraternities  and  the  organ- 
izations whose  functions  were  primarily  administrative. 

V.  RELATION  OF  DIFFERENT  TYPES  OF  GILD  TO 
EACH  OTHER 

The  validity  of  the  distinctions  suggested  between  these 
three  types  of  gild  is  qualified  by  the  lack  of  fixity  of  form 
that  is  characteristic  of  all  medieval  institutions.  There 
were,  indeed,  the  differences  of  purpose  that  have  been  sug- 
gested, but  these  purposes  did  not  exclude  each  other.  It 
is  thus  difficult  to  determine  in  many  cases  whether  there  are 
two  or  more  distinct  organizations,  or  merely  one  organiza- 
tion with  two  or  more  distinct  purposes. 

In  general,  the  gild  merchant  assumed  its  most  character- 
istic form  in  the  early  period  of  commercial  and  municipal 
development.  In  the  smaller  towns  this  devel- 


opment  was  itself  relatively  late  chronologically,  decline  of  the 
so  that  the  transformations  of  the  gild  merchant  * 
cannot  be  associated  with  specific  periods  and  dates.  The 
association  that  originally  exercised  significant  influence 
over  the  regulation  of  commerce  and  industry  was  shorn  of 
its  powers  by  the  development  of  the  municipality  and  by 
the  increased  specialization  of  the  crafts.  The  name  sur- 
vived in  many  cases  for  several  generations  after  the  insti- 
tution had  become  a  mere  shadow  without  substantial 
power.  At  times  this  old  tradition  expressed  itself  in  a 
banquet  or  in  some  ceremonial  observance  like  the  Corpus 
Christi  procession;  at  times  it  became  a  mere  formula  in- 
herited from  a  dead  past  and  repeated  without  any  clear 
notion  of  its  meaning.  "The  fourteenth  century,"  says 
Gross,  "may  in  general  be  called  the  period  of  gradual 
transition.  In  the  fifteenth  century  the  transition  was 
completed.  In  this,  and  in  the  following  centuries  the  term 
'Gilda  Mercatoria'  became  less  and  less  frequent." 
The  religious  gilds  as  definitely  distinct  institutions  were 


182  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

likewise  characteristic  of  the  earlier  period,  but  the  history 
of  this  element  of  medieval  life  presents  more 


opment  ofi"    complexities  than  the  gild  merchant,  for  the 


and  Craf*  m°tives  °f  such  organizations  persisted  un- 
changed for  a  long  time,  certainly  down  to  the 
Reformation.  There  was  therefore  a  vigorous  development 
of  fraternal  organizations  during  the  period  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  craft  gilds,  and  in  many  cases  the  craft  gilds 
absorbed  many  of  the  motives  and  purposes  of  the  fraternal 
organization.  In  the  larger  towns  the  important  crafts  pos- 
sessed either  two  distinct  associations  that  were  essentially 
parallel  or  a  single  organization  that  exercised  all  the  func- 
tions of  both.  In  the  case  of  the  smaller  crafts  the  purposes 
were  more  likely  to  be  kept  distinct.  The  view  of  the  craft 
could  wisely  be  entrusted  to  wardens  of  the  craft  even  if  the 
group  were  small;  at  Norwich,  a  craft  of  seven  masters  was 
not  considered  too  small  to  be  given  some  measure  of  auton- 
omy, and  in  Paris  the  hearings  before  fitienne  Boileau  showed 
that  there  was  no  hesitation  in  organizing  the  small  crafts. 
The  functions  of  the  religious  fraternity,  however,  could  not 
be  effectively  performed  if  the  number  of  members  sank  to 
Fraternities  and  such  small  proportions.  The  financial  respon- 
craft  gilds  sibilities  for  a  chapel  or  chantry  and  the  appro- 
priate celebration  of  the  various  religious  pageants  required 
a  considerable  endowment  or  notable  contributions  or  both. 
Of  the  eight  religious  gilds  in  Cambridge  making  returns  in 
1389  five  cannot  be  specifically  connected  with  the  crafts  or 
with  the  artisan  population.  One  of  the  three  remaining 
gilds  was  founded  by  a  group  of  skinners,  and  provision  was 
made  that  the  chief  official  should  always  be  a  skinner.  It 
would  seem  to  be  implied  that  members  of  other  crafts  might 
be  admitted,  even  though  the  fraternity  was  in  a  measure 
identified  with  the  skinners.  The  two  other  gilds  were  clearly 
composed  of  groups  of  artisans.  The  Gild  of  Saint  Katherine 
in  the  church  of  Saint  Andrew  contained  in  its  list  of  founders 
an  ironmonger,  a  baker,  a  currier,  a  chaloner,  a  piper,  and  a 
wool-comber.  The  Gild  of  Saint  Mary  in  the  church  of  Saint 
Botolph  includes  among  its  founders  a  fuller,  a  skinner,  a 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     183 

cordwainer,  and  a  tailor.  These  gilds  were  primarily  fra- 
ternal organizations  for  the  celebration  of  masses  and  the 
relief  of  indigent  brothers  and  sisters.  It  was  apparently 
necessary  for  the  smaller  groups  of  craftsmen  to  combine 
in  one  association. 

The  influence  of  pageantry  upon  the  crafts  can  be  seen  in 
the  combinations  among  the  craftsmen  of  Norwich  for  the 
purpose  of  participating  in  the  Corpus  Christi 

a    •    T    T     i     >      r«MJ  j       r 

procession.  Saint  Luke  s  Gild,  composed  of 
the  pewterers,  brasiers,  bell-founders,  plumbers,  glasiers, 
and  painters  was  at  the  first  entirely  responsible  for  the  pro- 
duction of  the  pageants,  although  it  is  not  known  when  it 
introduced  them.  In  1527  the  gild  petitioned  that  it  be  re- 
lieved by  assigning  to  each  craft  in  the  city  the  production 
of  one  pageant  for  the  procession.  This  request  was  granted 
and  twelve  pageants  were  assigned  to  various  crafts  and 
groups  of  crafts.  Only  a  few  years  before,  an  arrangement 
had  been  made  to  amalgamate  with  some  existing  frater- 
nity the  crafts  "that  had  no  vows"  —  that  is,  no  provision 
for  common  religious  ceremonies  —  so  that  the  systematic 
organization  of  religious  life  and  pageantry  went  hand  in 
hand. 

The  religious  organizations  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth 
centuries  were  practically  obliged  to  adopt  a  liberal  policy  of 
mclusiveness  in  the  choice  of  members.  They  occupational 
were  rarely  a  parallel  organization  to  the  craft  statistics 
gilds  because  the  crafts  were  for  the  most  part  very  small 
groups.  Statistics  of  occupations  are  infrequent,  as  may 
well  be  supposed,  but  there  are  fortunately  occasional  figures 
which  afford  at  least  a  basis  for  surmises  pending  the  accumu- 
lation of  a  broader  mass  of  material  for  statistical  study.  It 
is  hard  to  believe  that  the  meager  results,  as  yet  available  hi 
print,  could  not  be  significantly  supplemented  by  careful 
utilization  of  the  full  resources  of  the  manuscript  records. 
The  best  evidence  is  furnished  by  the  tax-rolls,  which  usually 
give  the  occupations  of  artisans.  At  this  period  surnames 
were  not  universal  and  the  designation  by  occupation  was 
frequently  necessary  as  a  means  of  identification.  In  the 


184 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


subsidy  roll  for  Cambridge  in  1314-15  we  find  entries  like 
the  following:  "Walter  the  Barber,"  "John  the  Girdler," 
"Alan  the  Skinner,"  etc.  Such  entries  are  fairly  certain 
evidence  as  to  the  occupation.  When  the  article  drops  out 
it  is  perhaps  hazardous  to  assume  that  we  are  not  dealing 
with  a  real  surname  instead  of  an  occupational  designation. 
Thus,  "Walter  Faver"  may  be  "Walter  the  Smith";  "John 
Sherman"  may  be  a  "Shearman";  but  the  reality  of  doubts 
is  indicated  by  the  entry,  "Robert  Hatter,  Shearman." 
However,  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the  occupation 
would  be  given  if  it  had  ceased  to  correspond  with  the  name. 
The  most  serious  source  of  error  probably  lies  in  the  incom- 
pleteness of  enumeration  of  the  relatively  poor  people  who 
were  in  many  cases  artisans.  Comparison  of  the  tax-rolls 
for  Colchester  in  1296  and  1300  or  for  Paris  at  the  same  date 
will  indicate  the  possibilities  of  under-counting.  In  Paris, 
in  1296,  only  225  occupations  were  listed;  in  1300,  348  were 
listed,  and  the  number  of  occupations  in  which  fewer  than 
five  persons  were  employed  had  changed  from  91  in  1296  to 
224  in  1300.  The  evidence  from  these  rolls,  therefore,  cannot 
be  assumed  to  represent  comprehensive  enumerations,  and 
should  be  presumed  to  be  somewhat  of  an  under-statement 
both  of  the  relative  size  of  the  groups  and  the  numbers  of 
occupations  represented. 

RELATIVE  SIZE  OF  THE  OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPS  IN  FIVE  ENGLISH 

TOWNS  * 


Town 

Date 

Number  of  crafts  having 

1 

person 

2-4 

•persons 

5-9 

persons 

10-19 
persons 

20-39 
persons 

Oner  40 

Cambridge  

1314-15 
1300 
1269-70 
1336 
1376 

1381 
1225-50 

36 
23 

22 
25 
(referen 

29 
34 

12 
6 
20 
21 
ce  to  fiv 
only) 
26 
15 

2 
6 
5 
1 

e  crafts 

18 
6 

3 
1 
1 
3 

9 
2 

2 
3' 

'i 

Colchester  

Leicester.  ...... 

Oxford  

Dublin  

*  Prepared  from  the  records  of  the  various  towns. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     185 

The  combination  of  a  number  of  closely  contemporary  rolls 
would  probably  eliminate  some  of  the  errors,  though  it  makes 
it  possible  to  over-count.  The  figures  for  Dublin  are  taken 
from  a  list  of  free  citizens  for  the  period  1225-50,  so  that 
there  are  many  elements  of  error:  inclusion  of  persons  not 
living  at  the  same  time;  omissions  of  residents  who  were  not 
citizens.  If  the  returns  from  Dublin  were  not  relatively 
consistent  with  the  other  figures  they  could  hardly  be  ac- 
cepted as  even  an  approximate  indication,  but  the  relative 
consistency  of  both  sets  of  figures  would  seem  to  lend  added 
credibility  to  both. 

Leicester,  Cambridge,  and  Colchester  were  small  towns  of 
about  two  thousand  inhabitants;  Oxford  had  a  population  of 
five  and  a  half  thousand,  if  the  academic  and  ecclesiastical 
population  is  included.  It  is  unfortunate  that  such  figures 
cannot  be  obtained  for  one  of  the  larger  industrial  towns,  and 
for  this  reason  the  figures  given  for  Paris  in  the  earlier  chap- 
ter are  helpful.  The  striking  feature  of  all  these  enumera- 
tions is  the  large  number  of  very  small  crafts,  crafts  with  less 
than  five  persons  recorded. 

There  is  no  printed  enumeration  for  Norwich  that  would 
permit  of  a  similar  survey  of  occupations,  but  the  numbers  of 
occupations  and  the  numbers  of  organized  crafts  Numbers 
suggest  substantially  the  same  general  condition.  of  craftB 
One  hundred  and  forty-seven  different  crafts  are  mentioned 
in  the  records  of  Norwich  during  the  last  half  of  the  thir- 
teenth century.    As  much  as  a  century  and  a  half  later,  only 
sixty-three  crafts  were  enumerated  in  the  lists  of  those  par- 
ticipating in  the  Corpus  Christi  procession.     The  town  had 
grown  some  in  population,  but  not  a  great  deal,  and  there  is 
certainly  no  ground  for  supposing  that  the  number  of  distinct 
occupations  had  decreased,  though  it  is  quite  likely  that  the 
entire  one  hundred  and  forty-seven  occupations  were  not 
exercised  at  any  given  tune.    One  must  infer  that  most  of  the 
crafts  were  very  small,  consisting  of  less  than  Preponderance 
five  persons;  perhaps  it  would  be  better  to  say  of  smaU  crafts 
masters  or  journeymen.     It  is  further  notable  that  at  Nor- 
wich the  sixty-three  crafts  in  the  procession  were  not  all  or- 


186 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


ganized  as  gilds.  They  participated  in  that  affair  under 
thirty-two  banners  and  there  is  reason  to  suppose  that  the 
number  of  gilds  was  somewhat  less.  In  Paris,  in  1300,  out  of 
348  distinct  occupations  hardly  more  than  a  hundred  were 
organized  as  craft  gilds.  At  London,  toward  the  close  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  ninety-eight  distinct  occupations  are 
mentioned  hi  the  records.  In  1316,  there  were  thirty-six 
recognized  craft  gilds.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the 
rather  more  complete  details  available  for  the  smaller  towns 
are  really  an  indication  of  a  general  condition.  The  crafts 
were  for  the  most  part  small,  and  large  numbers  of  them  were 
not  organized  into  gilds. 

RELATIVE  OCCUPATIONAL  DIFFERENTIATION  AND  NUMBERS  OF  CRAFT 
GILDS  IN  VARIOUS  TOWNS 


Town 

Date 

Number  of 
occupations 

Number  of 
crafts 

Number  of 
craft  gilds 

Probable 
population 

Beverley.  .  . 

1390 
1510 

•• 

38 
37 

" 

4,200 

Cambridge. 

1314-15 

50 

•  • 

•  • 

1,800 

Colchester. 

1301 
1377-99 

38 

41 

.  . 

2,000 

4,728 

Leicester.  .  . 

1196-1225 
1269-70 
1336 

40 

49 
48 

•• 

2,000 

London  

1275-89 
1316 
1353 

1422 
16th  century 

98 

36 
50 
89-112 
157 

30,000-40,000 
30,000-40,000 
30,000-40,000 
30,000-40,000 
30,000-40,000 

Norwich  .  .  . 

1250-1300 
1440 
1446 
1449 
1543 

147 

63 
73 

ie 

24 
(32) 
(21) 

5,000 
6,000 

Oxford  

1381 

84 

.. 

.. 

4,000-5,000 

Salisbury..  . 
Paris  

1420 
1276 

•• 

36 
97 

19 
71 

200,000 

1296 
1300 

224 
348 

St.  Omer.  .  . 

1300 

•• 

59 

25 

•• 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     187 

The  organization  of  artisans  for  the  typical  purpose  of 
exercising  the  view  of  the  craft  played  a  relatively  less  con- 
spicuous part  in  the  social  life  of  any  towns  that  Religious  or- 
were  as  small  as  the  majority  of  English  towns, 
and  the  fraternal  organizations  of  a  religious  spicuous 
and  charitable  character  were  relatively  more  conspicuous. 
The  wide  range  in  numbers  of  members  among  the  crafts  of 
the  larger  towns  created  distinctions  within  the  general 
mass  of  artisans.  Only  a  portion  of  the  artisan  population 
was  organized  in  craft  gilds  and  only  a  few  of  these  at- 
tained significant  power  by  reason  of  numbers  or  wealth. 
The  acquisition  of  power  in  the  municipality  by  a  small 
group  of  crafts  was  thus  far  from  being  a  victory  of  "  de- 
mocracy" in  any  modern  sense.  The  groups  of  craft  gilds 
that  rose  to  special  eminence  in  Paris,  London,  Norwich, 
and  many  other  towns  of  England  and  Europe  were  all  too 
frequently  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  commercial  or 
feudal  oligarchy  that  they  supplanted. 

A  few  particulars  concerning  a  number  of  towns  have  been 
reduced  to  tabular  form,  partly  to  convey  information,  partly 
to  suggest  the  inadequacy  of  our  knowledge  of  many  vital 
facts  concerning  these  associations  in  the  medieval  period. 

VI.  THE  RELIGIOUS  GILDS  AND  THE  CROWN 

The  development  of  the  religious  gilds  was  profoundly 
influenced  by  national  legislation.  In  the  earlier  period 
they  frequently  received  endowments  for  the 

.7  .  .  .        Endowments 

saying  of  masses,  so  that  they  began  to  acquire 
considerable  amounts  of  property  like  all  other  institutions 
connected  with  religion.  This  dedication  of  property  to 
devotional  purposes  became  a  subject  of  royal  concern  be- 
cause of  its  withdrawal  from  the  taxable  resources  of  the 
Government.  The  inquiry  of  1389,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made,  was  the  outcome  of  this  solicitude,  and  in 
1391  it  was  announced  that  the  property  held  by  the  religious 
gilds  was  subject  to  the  prohibitions  and  restrictions  of  the 
Statute  of  Mortmain.  If  this  act  were  strictly  interpreted 
it  would  render  it  impossible  for  the  religious  gilds  to  continue 


188  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

as  voluntary  associations,  and  it  is  probable  that  there  is  a 
connection  between  this  decision  and  the  increasing  fre- 
quency of  the  granting  of  royal  charters  to  such  bodies,  most 
particularly  in  London,  but  also  in  the  provincial  towns. 
Gilds  which  possessed  much  property  would  be  practically 
forced  to  secure  a  royal  charter  or  license. 

This  change  in  the  character  of  the  religious  fraternity  was 

of  great  importance  to  the  other  forms  of  craft  organizations. 

The  relations  between  the  fraternity  and  the 

Incorporation 

craft  gild  were  transformed.  When  the  admin- 
istrative organization  was  clothed  with  various  powers  by 
the  municipality,  it  was  obviously  more  important  than  a  vol- 
untary association  for  the  celebration  of  masses.  The  ac- 
quisition of  corporate  character  by  the  wealthy  fraternities 
in  the  late  fourteenth  and  early  fifteenth  centuries  reversed 
the  relative  importance  of  these  two  types  of  organization. 
The  privilege  of  holding  property  was  valuable;  the  general 
corporate  privileges  conferred  by  the  King  were  more  impor- 
tant than  any  rights  that  the  municipality  could  confer. 
These  bodies  were  originally  organized  for  religious  and  social 
purposes,  but  when  the  fraternity  was  fairly  well  identified 
with  a  particular  craft  the  economic  functions  were  soon  ab- 
Extensionof  sorbed  by  the  corporation.  The  corporation 
functions  was  Qfo[e  fo  exercise  the  supervisory  functions 

of  the  craft  gild  rather  more  adequately  than  the  gild  under 
municipal  authority.  The  religious  fraternity  had  always 
exercised  some  disciplinary  authority  over  its  members  that 
was  not  confined  to  mere  craft  matters;  the  prestige  of  the 
officers  of  the  corporation  was  if  anything  greater  than  that 
of  the  wardens  elected  or  appointed  to  exercise  merely  the 
view  of  the  craft. 

The  character  of  the  powers  conferred  by  these  royal  char- 
ters is  illustrated  by  the  grant  made  to  the  Tailors  of  Salis- 
bury by  Edward  IV  (1  Ed.  IV).  The  King  granted  "to  all 
the  men  of  the  craft  of  Tailors  in  the  city  aforesaid,  ...  to 
be  one  body  and  commonalty  perpetual.  And  also  he  hath 
granted  to  them  to  begin,  make,  found,  ordain  and  stable  of 
new,  a  perpetual  fraternity  or  gild  of  brethren  and  sisters.  .  . . 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     189 

> 

Also  he  hath  granted  that  the  same  men  of  the  craft,  every 
year  of  themselves  [i.e.  out  of  their  number]  to  choose  two 
wardens  to  oversee  and  govern  the  craft  Commonalty  and 
Gild  as  aforesaid,  and  also  all  goods,  chattels  and  possessions 
of  the  same,  for  evermore.  .  .  .  And  that  the  same  wardens 
and  Commonalty  have  succession  everlasting  and  a  common 
seal,  for  the  needs  of  the  said  Community."  x 

The  primary  motive  of  such  a  grant  was  the  reorganiza- 
tion of  the  religious  fraternity  to  make  it  conform  to  the  laws 
relating  to  the  holding  of  property,  but  in  the  granting  of  the 
charter  of  incorporation  much  was  accomplished  that  was 
not  deliberately  intended.  The  grant  of  power  to  the  war- 
dens included  the  view  of  the  craft  that  they  already  pos- 
sessed by  delegation  of  authority  from  the  municipality. 
It  was  not  uncommon  in  the  middle  ages  to  get  grants  con- 
firmed by  various  authorities;  it  was  thus  wholly  in  accord 
with  medieval  notions  of  the  proper  course  of  action  to  in- 
clude in  the  enumeration  of  powers  desired  of  the  King  these 
powers  that  had  originally  been  received  from  the  town. 
The  process  of  incorporation  thus  tended  to  obscure  the 
relatively  slight  distinctions  that  existed  between  the  frater- 
nity and  the  craft  gild. 

Not  all  the  religious  gilds  secured  charters.  The  expense 
of  obtaining  such  a  grant  would  be  prohibitory  to  any  but  the 
wealthy  organizations,  and  it  thus  came  about  „ 

-.---.  .         .    Rich  and  poor 

that  the  distinctions  which  had  long  existed 

between  the  rich  and  the  poor  craftsmen  and  their  societies 

were  accentuated  by  the  addition  of  powers  to  the  gilds  of  the 

rich.     The  new  kind  of  association  added  to  the  existing 

variety  of  gilds  a  type  that  became  the  visible  evidence  of 

the  chasm  that  was  opening  up  between  the  rich  and  the 

poor. 

All  forms  of  gilds  began  to  be  transformed  hi  the  fifteenth 
century,  and  most  of  these  changes  were  carried  to  their 
conclusions  hi  the  first  half  of  the  following  century.  The 
Reformation  did  away  with  the  older  forms  of  fraternal 

1  Haskins,  C.:  Ancient  Trade  Guilds  and  Companies  of  Salisbury  (Salisbury, 
1912),  118-19. 


190  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

organization,  and  the  economic  changes  reduced  the  older 
type  of  craft  gild  to  a  position  of  such  subordinate  importance 
that  it  ceased  to  be  a  significant  feature  of  industrial  life. 
The  The  endowments  of  the  fraternities  were  finally 

confiscation  of  confiscated  by  Edward  VI  under  authority  of 
the  Statute  of  1547.  Such  a  step  had  been  con- 
templated by  Henry  VIII,  but  nothing  was  done  beyond 
making  an  inquiry  into  the  number  of  religious  organizations 
and  the  amount  of  then*  property.  The  Statute  of  Edward 
VI  provided  that  all  property  formerly  devoted  to  religious 
purposes  should  come  at  once  into  the  possession  of  the  King, 
but  it  was  ordered  that  all  grammar  schools  formerly  main- 
tained by  such  institutions  should  be  assured  the  payment  of 
an  annual  stipend  from  the  revenue  of  the  property  confis- 
cated. Whatever  the  intent  of  the  act,  its  consequences  were 
unfortunate,  for  the  great  rise  in  prices,  even  then  consciously 
felt,  soon  rendered  these  fixed  salaries  wholly  insufficient  to 
maintain  the  schools  in  their  original  condition.  Much  might 
have  been  done  for  popular  education  by  the  endowment 
of  the  existing  schools  with  the  property  of  the  gilds  and 
chantries. 

This  confiscatory  statute  has  frequently  been  alleged  to  be 
the  cause  of,  the  altered  position  of  the  craft  gilds,  but  such  a 
Secular  func-  view  fails  to  take  adequate  account  of  the  dis- 
tions  permitted  thictions  between  the  two  types  of  organization. 
The  statute,  though  obscure  in  many  respects,  does  distin- 
guish between  the  secular  craft  gilds  and  the  religious  organ- 
izations. It  does  not  prohibit  or  dissolve  organizations  that 
existed  for  purely  secular  purposes.  The  craft  gilds  were 
thus  not  directly  affected  by  the  statute.  In  so  far  as  the 
functions  of  the  craft  gild  had  come  to  be  exercised  by  an 
incorporated  fraternity,  it  would  of  course  be  somewhat 
affected,  though  it  would  seem  that  the  craft  organization 
could  continue,  shorn  of  its  property-holding  powers. 

The  altered  position  of  the  craft  gilds  must  be  attributed 
Decline  of  to  a  variety  of  elements,  partly  economic  and 
the  craft  gilds  partly  political.  There  was  at  this  time  a  move- 
ment of  population  away  from  the  incorporated  towns:  the 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OP  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     191 

movement  was  not  precisely  a  rural  exodus,  for  many  villages 
grew  to  considerable  proportions;  it  would  seem  to  have  been 
in  part  an  attempt  to  escape  from  restrictions  imposed  upon 
industry  and  commerce  by  the  older  municipalities.  There 
was  doubtless  some  increase  in  the  proportion  of  artisans 
among  the  rural  population.  These  changes  resulted  in  a 
distinct  increase  in  the  number  of  artisans  not  formally  or- 
ganized in  gilds. 

In  the  large  towns  the  distinctions  between  an  employing 
and  a  wage-earning  class  was  becoming  significantly  es- 
tablished. The  wealthier  masters  in  some  crafts  became 
employers  of  considerable  numbers  of  journeymen  or  small 
masters.  Certain  crafts,  also,  were  in  general  composed  of 
well-to-do  masters  who  employed  the  less  wealthy  masters  of 
other  crafts.  The  employing  classes,  particularly  in  London, 
secured  corporate  charters  during  this  period  and  organized 
associations  which  were  different  in  a  number  of  respects 
from  the  old  craft  gilds.  The  wage-earning  classes  were  at 
times  excluded  entirely,  at  times  admitted  to  membership 
of  an  inferior  order.  The  distinction  between  the  two 
classes  of  members  was  in  most  cases  emphasized 

u      xu     v  T  f  4.1,  i       The  livery 

by  the  livery  or  uniform  of  the  company;  only 
the  controlling  members  were  allowed  to  wear  the  livery, 
which  thus  became  a  symbol  of  power  and  affluence.  Even 
when  the  old  craft  gild  survived,  its  meaning  was  changed. 
The  relation  to  the  employing  master  became  relatively  more 
important  than  the  right  to  elect  wardens  to  view  the  craft, 
and  at  times  the  view  of  the  craft  came  to  be  exercised  by  the 
officers  of  the  craft  of  employers.  Ultimately,  new  organiza- 
tions of  workingmen  began  to  appear,  disguised  at  times  as 
fraternal  associations,  but  in  purpose  more  nearly  akin  to 
the  modern  trade  union. 

VII.  THE  STATUTE  OF  APPRENTICES 

The  economic  changes  are  reflected  in  the  increased  solici- 
tude of  the  Government  with  reference  to  industry,  and 
though  much  legislation  was  merely  a  record  of  good  inten- 
tions, some  of  the  statutes  exerted  a  significant  influence 


192 

upon  social  and  industrial  life.  The  Statute  of  Apprentices 
(1562)  was  unquestionably  the  most  notable  embodiment 
of  the  policies  that  dominated  industrial  life  until  the  In- 
dustrial Revolution  was  far  advanced.  It  was  in  a  measure 
a  codification  of  older  statutes  which  had  been  imperfectly 
administered,  and  the  dominant  purpose  seems 

Purposes  ,  . 

to  have  been  to  prevent  change  rather  than  to 
make  innovations.  In  fact,  however,  the  statute  made  a 
number  of  important  innovations.  It  was  hoped  that  the 
statute  would  check  the  decline  of  the  corporate  towns,  pro- 
vide for  more  adequate  training  of  village  artisans,  assure  a 
more  considerable  supply  of  agricultural  labor,  and  afford 
some  guarantee  that  wages  would  be  adjusted  to  the  "  ad- 
vancement of  prices  of  all  things  belonging  to  said  servants 
and  laborers."  Few  social  concerns  were  not  in  some  meas- 
ure affected  by  this  great  codification  of  industrial  and  social 
legislation. 

Thirty-two  crafts,  including  all  the  more  important  and 
frequent  occupations,  are  enumerated  in  the  articles  referring 
to  the  length  of  term  for  which  such  craftsmen  should  be 
hired.  These  crafts  were  later  designated  as  crafts  to  be 
taught  in  corporate  and  market  towns  to  the  sons  of  free- 
holders. The  mercers,  drapers,  goldsmiths,  ironmongers, 
and  clothiers  were  forbidden  to  take  any  person  as  appren- 
tice whose  father  or  mother  was  not  possessed  of  a  forty- 
shilling  freehold.  These  were  crafts  whose  masters  were 
characteristically  employers  so  that  this  distinction  is  sig- 
nificant. In  another  article  twenty-one  crafts  are  enumer- 
ated which  were  allowed  to  be  taught  either  in  towns  or  in 
the  country;  all  of  these  crafts  were  to  be  open  to  persons 
whose  parents  had  no  property  at  all. 

There  are  thus  implications  that  a  wage-earning  class  was 
already  established:  it  is  assumed  by  the  statute  that  the 
wage-earners  larger  proportion  of  artisans  work  for  hire,  and 
and  wages  ft  jg  f or  ^his  reason  that  the  regulation  of  the 
wages  of  town  artisans  became  a  matter  of  solicitude.  The 
wages  of  agricultural  laborers  and  of  certain  " artificers"  had 
long  been  regulated  by  justices  of  the  peace,  but  these  "arti- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  GILDS  IN  ENGLAND     193 

fleers"  seem  to  have  been  the  masons,  smiths,  carpenters, 
and  the  like  who  were  recognized  as  being  a  distinctly  rural 
group.  The  artisans  of  the  towns  had  not  been  included  in 
earlier  statutes,  partly  because  their  interests  were  presumed 
to  be  in  charge  of  the  municipality,  but  partly  because  they 
had  not  been  mere  wage-earners.  The  statute  must  have 
tended  to  accentuate  the  changes  that  were  taking  place 
because  the  status  of  the  various  classes  was  so  specifically 
defined.  The  conditions  of  entrance  into  the  crafts  prac- 
ticed in  towns  amounted  to  a  real  restriction. 

Every  person  was  ordered  to  adopt  a  definite  profession 
or  calling.  Excepting  persons  owning  property,  persons 
of  gentle  birth,  and  scholars,  every  one  must  needs  choose 
between  the  sea,  the  crafts,  and  agriculture.  Any  person 
failing  to  make  a  decision  could  be  required  to  work  at 
agriculture.  Freedom  of  movement  was  likewise  curtailed: 
no  person  might  leave  the  town  or  parish  in  which  he  had 
been  employed  unless  he  obtained  a  formal  testimonial  from 
appropriate  authorities  or  from  two  householders.  These 
restrictions  destroyed  the  conditions  that  had  made  craft 
autonomy  possible  in  the  earlier  period.  In  so  far  as  craft 
organizations  continued  to  exist  they  were  mere  shadows  of 
what  they  had  been  formerly. 

The  wage-fixing  clauses  constitute  perhaps  the  most  fa- 
mous portion  of  the  statute  and  their  place  in  the  history  of 
the  centuries  that  followed  shows  how  great  a 
change  had  taken  place  in  the  position  of  the 
craftsmen.  The  intent  of  these  clauses,  however,  was  other 
than  might  be  supposed.  The  provisions  were  designed  to  as- 
sure the  payment  of  not  merely  a  living  wage,  but  an  equiv- 
alent of  the  wages  that  had  prevailed  before  the  rise  hi  prices. 
The  clauses  were  not  intended  to  guarantee  an  improvement 
in  the  relative  well-being  of  the  artisan,  but  to  protect  him  in 
his  existing  state  against  the  unfavorable  effects  of  the  price 
revolution.  The  justices  of  the  peace  were  presumed  to  as- 
certain the  cost  of  maintaining  the  appropriate  standards  of 
life  and  to  regulate  wages  accordingly.  The  notions  under- 
lying the  statute  were  in  some  respects  similar  to  the  thought 


194  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

expressed  by  the  phrase  a  "living  wage,"  but  there  was  no 
implication  that  the  artisan  had  not  been  getting  an  appro- 
priate living. 

There  has  been  much  controversy  over  the  history  of  these 
wage-fixing  provisions,  and  the  results  are  as  yet  too  inconclu- 
sive to  admit  of  final  judgment  of  the  matter.  It  is  evident, 
however,  that  the  earlier  writers  were  wrong  in  asserting 
that  the  powers  of  the  statute  were  not  exercised  at  all. 
There  are  a  number  of  wage-assessments  in  print  and  the  list 
is  constantly  increasing.  It  should  be  observed  that  most  of 
these  lists  apply  to  rural  workmen  rather  than  to  the  crafts- 
men of  the  towns,  and  there  is  considerable  ground  for  sup- 
posing that  the  act  was  devoid  of  real  significance  in  so  far 
as  it  related  to  the  urban  craftsmen.  The  more  technical 
character  of  the  crafts  made  the  problem  of  wage-regulation 
too  complex  for  the  quality  of  statecraft  represented  at 
quarter  sessions.  The  failure  of  the  assessments  made  by 
the  Gloucestershire  justices  for  weaving  seems  to  have  been 
typical  of  such  attempts. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750 


IN  many  industries  the  technical  transformations  of  the 
period  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  obscure  the  considerable 
advances  in  technique  that  were  made  during  Technical 
the  earlier  period.  In  the  woolen  industries  improvement 
the  chief  improvements  in  the  character  of  the  goods,  as 
distinct  from  processes  of  manufacture,  took  place  prior  to 
the  Industrial  Revolution.  At  that  time  the  process  of 
manufacture  was  somewhat  cheapened,  but  the  character 
of  the  goods  was  not  notably  transformed.  The  develop- 
ment hi  this  industry,  or  group  of  industries,  therefore  falls 
into  two  distinct  periods:  in  the  earlier,  there  was  a  great 
technical  advance  that  is  most  clearly  apparent  hi  the  char- 
acter of  the  fabrics  made;  in  the  later,  the  changes  were 
primarily  concerned  with  the  organization  of  the  industry 
as  a  business  enterprise  and  with  its  mechanical  equipment. 
The  history  of  the  woolen  industries  thus  requires  that  some 
attention  be  given  to  purely  technical  matters. 

There  are  hi  general  two  classes  of  wools,  short  staple 
wools  and  long  staple  wools,  and  the  larger  differences  in  the 
fabrics  produced  were  originally  due  to  these  differences  in 
the  nature  of  the  raw  material.  The  average  length  of  staple 
of  various  types  of  wool  is  given  below. 

AVERAGE  LENGTH  OF  STAPLE  OF  VARIOUS  WOOLS 

Merino 2 .25-2. 5  inches 

Fine  cross-bred 3 

Alpaca 7.5 

Mohair 8 

Lincolnshire 10.5 

These  differences  in  length  of  staple  are  so  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  other  properties  of  wool  that  they  serve  as  the 
basis  of  classification,  though  the  difference  in  length  is  not  in 


196  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

itself  the  most  significant  of  the  differences.   The  short  staple 
wool  is  finer,  more  curly,  and  possesses  greater 

Kinds  of  wool  '  ' 

felting  properties.  The  long  staple  wool  is 
more  nearly  like  hair,  possessing  the  peculiar  felting  property 
in  such  moderate  measure  that  its  use  is  limited  to  types  of 
goods  in  which  little  felting  is  desired.  Both  types  of  wool 
are  native  to  England :  thg  short  staple  being  characteristic 
of  the  South  Down  sheep,  the  long  staple  of  the  Lincolnshire 
sheep.  The  fleece  of  the  English  South  Down  is  inferior  to 
the  fleece  of  the  Merino,  and  this  difference  in  the  quality  of 
the  native  wool  supply  probably  exerted  a  notable  influence 
upon  the  early  history  of  the  English  woolen  industries. 
The  English-grown  wool  was  less  well  adapted  to  the  making 
of  the  finer  grades  of  cloth  so  that  the  English  industry  suf- 
fered in  a  variety  of  ways  from  the  competition  of  the  French 
and  Flemish  weavers  who  found  the  fine  Spanish  wool  readily 
available.  In  the  eighteenth  century  the  Merino  sheep  were 
.  brought  from  Spain  to  England  and  Germany. 

The  English  wools  were  considerably  improved 
by  judicious  cross-breeding  with  Merino  stock,  but  the  fleece 
still  remains  slightly  inferior,  as  is  indicated  by  the  difference 
in  staple.  Pure-bred  Merinos  cannot  be  successfully  main- 
tained hi  England.  The  best  Merino  wool  now  comes  from 
Saxony,  the  climate  there  having  proved  to  be  somewhat 
more  favorable  than  the  climate  of  Spain.  England  had 
always  produced  the  finest  long  staple  wool,  so  that  the  im- 
provement of  the  Leicestershire  stock  in  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury by  careful  selection  has  merely  emphasized  a  difference 
that  has  always  existed.  The  advantages  of  proximity  to  the 
supply  of  raw  material  are  not  decisive,  however,  and  though 
this  long  staple  wool  is  particularly  fitted  for  the  worsted 
manufacture,  that  industry  was  relatively  slow  in  establish- 
ing itself  in  England.  The  location  of  the  different  branches 
of  the  manufacture  in  England,  however,  seems  to  be  related 
to  the  character  of  the  local  supplies  of  wool.  The  south  and 
west  became  identified  with  woolens;  the  eastern  counties 
and  later  the  West  Riding  of  York  became  identified  with 
the  worsteds. 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES :  1450-1750  197 

These  distinct  types  of  woolen  goods  were  originally 
based  on  these  different  types  of  raw  wool,  but  the  difference 
in  the  goods  is  primarily  an  outcome  of  differ- 
ent  methods  of  manufacture.  Woolen  cloths, 
originally  prepared  from  the  short  staple  wools,  are  shrunk 
and  felted  until  the  weave  pattern  is  largely  lost.  The  finish 
of  the  cloth  is  dependent  upon  this  felting  process  and  the 
subsequent  raising  of  the  nap  to  produce  a  soft,  velvety  sur- 
face. Large  patterns  in  different  colors  of  yarn  will  appear 
in  the  finished  goods,  though  in  vaguer  outline  because  of 
the  blurring  of  the  lines  of  the  weave  in  the  felting  process. 
All  these  goods  shrink  considerably  in  the  finishing,  being  usu- 
ally reduced  about  one  third  both  in  length  and  breadth. 
As  a  rule  woolen  goods  contain  a  greater  weight  of  wool  per 
square  yard  than  worsted  goods  that  are  not  felted,  and  as 
the  weight  of  yarn  is  likely  to  vary  within  the  same  general 
range,  the  differences  in  weight  of  woolens  and  worsteds  are 
roughly  correlated  to  the  degree  to  which  the  woolens  have 
been  shrunk.  The  higher  grades  of  woolens  made  in  the 
fifteenth  and  sixteenth  centuries  weighed  about  one  and  one 
half  pounds  per  square  yard.1 

1  The  types  of  woolens  indicated  in  the  statutes  cannot  be  compared  directly 
with  the  modern  types,  as  the  designations  are  based  on  color  and  place  of  manu- 
facture. The  Statute  of  1551-52  (5  &  6  Ed.  VI,  c.  6)  enumerates  the  following  types : 

Wt.  per  lin-     Wt,.  per  sq. 

ear  yd.  (Ibs.)     yd.  (Ibs.) 

Broadcloths  (one  and  three  quarters  yards  wide)  — 

Kent,  Sussex,  Reading 3  1.71 

Worcesters,  long  cloths 2.7  1 . 54 

short  cloths 2.4  1.37 

Colored  long  and  short  cloths  — 

Suffolk,  Norfolks,  Essex,  long 2.6  1 .48 

short 2.5  1.42 

Whites  and  reds  — 

Wilts,  Gloucester,  Somerset 2.2  1 .37 

Plunketts  (blues  of  various  shades)  — 

Wilts,  Gloucester,  Somerset 2.5  1 .42 

Taun tons  and  Bridgewaters 2.6  1.48 

Northern  cloths 1.7  .97 

Narrow  cloths  (one  yard  wide)  — 

Taunton  and  Bridgewater 1.3  1.3 

Kersies  (made  of  long  staple  wool  and  hence  worsteds)  — 

Broads,   one  and  three   quarters  yards  wide,   ordinaries,  sorting, 

Devonshire  dozens 1 . 1-1 .2  .62 

Checks,  one  yard  wide _ 1.2  1.2 

Friese,  three  quarters  of  a  yard  wide  — 

Welch 1.3  2.32 

Manchester 1.3  2.32 

Cottons,  three  quarters  of  a  yard  wide  — 

Welch 95  1.69 

Manchester,  Lancashire  and  Cheshire 99  1.7 

Penystoues,  or  Forest  Whites,  one  and  five  eighths  of  a  yard  wide  ...  2.1  1 . 38 

There  was  no  general  difference  between  the  broad  and  the  long  cloths.  The 
frieses  were  coarse  cloths  that  had  a  nap  on  one  side  only.  Cottons  were  a 
mixture  of  wool  and  coarse  cotton. 


198  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Worsteds  were  woven  from  yarns  prepared  from  long 

staple  wool,  and  were  not  subjected  to  the  shrinking  and 

felting  process.     The  low  felting  properties  of 

Worsteds  ° 

the  long  staple  wools  thus  rendered  them 
peculiarly  suitable  for  such  fabrics.  The  worsteds  could  be 
finished  with  reference  to  weave  patterns,  for  the  harder 
surface  of  the  cloth  and  the  absence  of  any  considerable  nap 
made  the  weave  pattern  very  conspicuous.  Twilled  serges, 
various  "pepper-and-salt"  effects,  and  the  whole  range  of 
fancy  weaves  characteristic  of  modern  worsted  suitings  are 
thus  a  direct  result  of  the  emphasis  upon  the  weave  pattern  as 
;:  /distinct  from  the^ felted  nap  distinctive  of  the  woolens,  com- 
tmonly  called  "broad  cloths"  even  to-day.  The  worsted 
goods  were  lighter  and  on  the  whole  cheaper  than  correspond- 
mg  grades  of  woolens,  and,  little  by  little,  the  worsteds  have 
Decline  of  .  driven  the  woolens  from  the  market.  The 
the  woolens  appearance  formerly  distinctive  of  woolens  can 
now  be  produced  in  worsteds,  so  that  relatively  few  true 
woolen  types  are  seen  in  the  market  at  the  present  tune. 
This  is  the  outcome  of  a  long  historical  process. 

The  woolens  are  the  older  type,  so  far  as  we  know.  Wor- 
steds do  not  appear  in  England  until  the  thirteenth  and 
fourteenth  centuries,  and  hardly  more  than  a  century  earlier 
on  the  Continent.  Despite  increasing  competition  with  the 
worsteds,  the  true  types  of  woolens  maintained  themselves 
until  the  period  of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  but  the  decline 
of  the  industry  in  the  nineteenth  century  was  relatively  rapid. 

The  development  of  the  woolen  and  worsted  industries  is 
difficult  to  trace  in  detail  because  the  names  of  the  goods  are 
far  from  stable.  Old  names  cannot  with  certainty  be  identi- 
fied with  modern  Ntypes.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that  the 
more  important  types  of  woolen  goods  had  become  fixed  at 
an  early  date,  perhaps  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  the  four- 
teenth century.  But  there  was  much  technical  improvement 
of  the  processes  of  finishing.  The  textiles  preserved  in 
museums  afford  some  means  of  studying  these  changes,  but 
there  seems  to  have  been  little  systematic  study  of  this  aspect 
of  industrial  history. 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          199 

The  progress  of  the  worsted  industry  can  be  followed  with 
more  success,  though  it  is  not  possible  to  interpret  all  the 
details  without  more  study  of  the  fabrics  them-  mse  of 
selves.  Worsteds  were  first  made  on  the  the  worsted 
Continent,  in  France  and  in  Flanders,  but  the  * 
variety  of  fabrics  seems  to  have  been  small  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries.  Some  coarse  cloths  may  have  been 
made  of  long  combing  wool  in  England  independently  of 
foreign  influence.  The  kerseys,  so  frequently  enumerated  in 
the  statutes,  would  seem  to  be  worsteds  in  that  sense,  and  the 
Draper's  Dictionary  cites  evidence  to  show  that  these  goods 
were  really  a  kind  of  serge.  It  has  generally  been  supposed, 
however,  that  the  development  of  the  industry  was  the  result 
of  the  initiative  of  Continental  weavers,  and  to  the  best  of  our 
present  knowledge  the  new  types  of  worsteds  were  first 
brought  out  on  the  Continent  and  introduced  into  England 
by  immigrants.  The  introduction  of  the  manufacture^is, 
associated  with  two  distinct  waves  of  immigration :  the  earlier 
immigrants,  coming  at  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  cen- 
tury, brought  with  them  the  fundamental  types,  says,  serges, 
bombazines,  and  tiretaines;  the  second  group  of  immigrants, 
who  appear  first  toward  the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century, 
introduced  a  number  of  specialties  which  competed  more 
keenly  with  the  woolens  than  the  other  types  of  worsteds. 
Many  of  these  goods  were  mixed  with  silk. 

The  goods  introduced  at  the  time  of  the  second,  great  im- 
migration of  Continental  weavers  are  usually  called  the 
"New  Drapery,"  and  it  would  seem  that  the  The  "New 
term  is  substantially  accurate,  though  there  is  DraPery" 
much  confusion  in  the  statutes  and  in  the  references  of  con- 
temporaries. The  enumeration  of  the  new  drapery  in  the 
Statute  of  1565  includes  some  of  the  older  types,  notably  says, 
stamens,  and  kerseys,  while  various  other  references  would 
restrict  the  term  to  a  much  narrower  group  of  fabrics.  There 
is  thus  uncertainty  as  to  whether  the  term  should  cover  all 
worsteds  or  merely  those  types  introduced  in  the  late  fifteenth 
and  early  sixteenth  centuries.  The  period  marks  a  new  stage 
in  the  development  of  the  worsted  manufacture  in  England, 


200 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


at  all  events,  and  the  number  of  new  fabrics  is  in  itself  evi- 
dence of  the  general  character  of  the  change  even  though  the 
various  fabrics  cannot  be  certainly  identified.  The  charac- 
teristic features  of  worsteds  were  more  definitely  brought  out, 
and  the  advantages  were  vigorously  exploited  by  increasing 
skill  in  the  preparation  of  fancy  yarns.  The  scope  of  the 
industry  was  further  extended  by  active  imitation  of  French 
fabrics  in  the  late  seventeenth  century.  At  that  time  there 
was  no  appreciable  immigration,  but  the  increase  in  the  in- 
dustry was  comparable  to  the  developments  in  the  earlier 
periods  of  expansion.  The  extent  of  the  change  can  be 
roughly  measured  by  comparison  of  lists  of  worsted  fabrics 
for  1578  and  1739. 

WORSTED  FABRICS:  1578 

From  a  list  in  the  Burghley  Papers  designed  to  serve  as  a  basis  for  calculat- 
ing export  duties* 


Length 
(yd*.) 

Width 
(yds.) 

Weight  of 
piece 
(Ibs.) 

Weight  per 
linear  yard 
(Ibs.) 

Weight  per 
square  yard 
(Iba.) 

Bays,  double.  .  .  . 
"      middle  
"      single  
Rasse,  or  

34 

34 
34 
24 

2 
1.75 
1.75 
1  5 

44 

24 
24 

42 

1.3 

.7 
.7 
1.7 

.65 
.46 
.46 
1.16 

Staminett  

22 

32 

1.4 

Serge,  French..  .  . 

23 

20 

.86 

*  James:  Worsted  Manufacture,  118.    Figures  for  width  are  from  other  sources;  chiefly, 
scattered  references  in  the  Victorian  County  Histories. 


Length 
(yds.) 

Weight  of  piece 
(Ibs.) 

Weight  per  yard 
(Ibs.) 

Sayes,  Flanders  

27 

16 

.59 

Narrow  Worsteds  

15 

7 

.46 

Norwich  grograines  

14 

5 

.36 

Mockadoes,  double  

14 

4 

28 

"            single  

14 

3 

.21 

"            tuft  

14 

6 

.42 

Plommetts  

14 

4 

.28 

Carells  

14 

4 

.28 

Fustians  of  Naples  

14 

6 

.42 

Blanketts  or  Spanish  rugs.  . 

10 

Knit  Hose. 

Bombazines  } 

Motley         [•  made  in  England  at  this  time,  but  not  enumerated. 

Russels         ) 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          201 

WORSTED  FABRICS:  1739 
(Contemporary  pamphlet)  * 

Of  combing  wool  entire 

Says  Cadiz  Calimancoes,  Plain 

Borsleys  Serge  Calimancoes,  Flowered 

fShalloons  fSagathees  Damasks 

Spanish  Crapes  fDuroys  Russetts 

During  Crapes  fDurants  Everlastings 

fTamys  Ranters  Cantiloons 

fPurnellows  Buntins  Worsted  plush 

Satanetts  Bolting  Cloths  Quarter  diamond 

Harrateens  Swathing  Bands  Bird's-Eye  diamond 

Cheneys  fSerge  Denim 

Grogram  Cambletts 

Paragon 

*  James:  Worsted  Manufacture,  227.      t  Denotes  fabrics  then  of  recent  introduction. 

Of  combing  wool  and  carding  wool  mixed 
(Warp  of  combing  wool,  woof  of  carding  wool) 
Bays  Druggetts,  Plain  Swan  Skin 

Broad  Rash  Druggetts,  Porded  Swincoe  Bays 

Clothiers  Serge  Flannel  Perpetuanas 

German  Serge  Long  Ells 

Of  long  wool,  silk,  mohair,  and  Cotton 

Norwich  Crapes  Spanish  Poplins  Alapeens 

Silk  Druggetts  Venetian  Poplins  Anterines 

Hair  Plush  Hair  Camblet  Silk  Satanetts 

Bombazines 


II 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century  and  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century  we  find  some  indications  of  the  rela- 
tive numbers  of  persons  engaged  in  the  different  operations 
of  the  woolen  industries.  Some  of  the  figures  were  prepared 
by  pamphleteers  who  were  endeavoring  to  show  the  impor- 
tance of  the  industry  as  a  source  of  employment  to  the  poor, 
so  that  there  is  some  possibility  of  exaggeration;  the  interest 
of  the  figures,  however,  does  not  depend  upon  minute  accu- 
racy. We  are  chiefly  concerned  with  the  larger  features  of  the 
statistics,  the  proportions  among  spinners,  weavers,  and  fin- 
ishers, and  the  relation  between  what  we  may  call  the  main 
processes  or  tasks  and  subsidiary  processes.  It  would  seem 
that  even  these  crude  figures  throw  some  light  upon  the  growth 
of  the  division  of  labor  in  the  industry  and  make  it  easier  to 


202  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

understand  the  transition  from  medieval  conditions  to  the 
factory  system. 

PBOPORTIONS  OF  WOKKERS  IN  THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRY 


Persons  needed  to 
keep    20    looms 
busy,  Scotland: 
1681* 

Persons  needed  to 
make  one  piece 
of  medley  cloth: 
1683t 

Persons  needed  to 
work  up  one  pack 
of  wool  into  broad 
cloth:  1737  t 

Sorters  

24  boys 

2 

1 

Pickers  

12  women 

1 

Scriblers  

20  boys 

4 

SPINNERS  

100  men 

6 

30 

Winding  

156  hands 
4  men 

9  hands 

35  hands 
4 

Dressers  

12 

Setting  handles  

2 

WEAVERS  

40 

3 

8 

Burlers  

58  hands 
12 

3  hands 

12  hands 
4 

FULLERS  

2 

1 

5 

Shearmen  

1 

14  hands 

2  hands 

9  hands 

*  Scottish  Hist.  Soc.:  Cloth  Manufactory  at  New  Mills,  xxxvii. 

t  Eden:  State  of  the  Poor,  I,  221;  James:  Worsted  Manufacture,  218. 

J  V.  C.  H.:  Gloucester,  n,  160. 

It  is  unfortunate  that  these  estimates  do  not  include  any 
figures  for  the  dyers.  The  medley  cloth  was  probably  used 
in  its  natural  color,  so  that  no  dyers  would  be  used,  and  the 
dyeing  of  the  broad  cloth  was  done  after  it  had  passed 
through  the  hands  of  the  London  merchants.  The  state- 
ment with  reference  to  the  broad-cloth  manufacture  was 
exclusively  occupied  with  the  persons  employed  by  the  west 
of  England  clothiers.  The  condition  of  the  English  industry 
was  always  somewhat  exceptional:  short  of  being  wholly 
representative,  because  a  large  part  of  the  cloth  exported 
was  sent  out  wholly  or  partially  unfinished.  Some  of  the 
Flemish  and  Italian  towns  made  a  specialty  of  dyeing  and 
finishing. 

The  woolen  industry  was  divided  into  four  primary  occu- 
pations: the  preparation  of  the  yarn,  which  was  chiefly  con- 
cerned with  spinning;  the  weaving  of  the  cloth;  the  physical 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          203 

manipulation  of  the  cloth,  shrinking,  picking  of  burrs,  shear- 
ing, stretching,  and  pressing;  the  dyeing.  Each  stages  in 
of  these  primary  tasks  was  ultimately  sub-  manufacture 
divided,  but  these  subdivisions  were  slow  to  appear  for  rea- 
sons that  will  be  obvious  from  an  inspection  of  the  table. 
The  work  necessary  to  prepare  wool  for  spinning  required 
proportionately  few  hands,  so  that  specialization  of  these 
tasks  was  not  usual  until  the  industry  came  to  be  organized  on 
a  large  scale.  The  tasks  subordinate  to  weaving  were  prob- 
ably fairly  well  specialized  at  an  early  date,  though  we  hear 
little  of  them  as  distinct  occupations.  Much  of  such  work 
could  be  done  by  children  and  was  undoubtedly  done  by  the 
apprentices  or  the  children  of  the  weaver.  The  processes 
associated  with  fulling  were  by  necessity  the  work  of  adults; 
fulling,  rowing,  and  shearing  was  men's  work,  burling — • 
picking  knots  and  burrs  out  of  the  cloth  —  was  done  by 
women  as  soon  as  it  became  a  separate  occupation.  These 
various  finishing  operations  became  distinguished  at  an  early 
date.  There  is  a  rough  consistency  in  the  proportions  of 
:rsons  in  the  three  accounts  given :  about  three  times  as  many 
arsons  are  engaged  in  preparing  yarn  as  in  weaving,  and  the 

tv  {labor  employed  in  fulling  and  its  ancillary  tasks  is  slightly 
less  than  the  labor  employed  in  weaving.  If  these  facts  repre- 

',;,  sent  to  any  degree  the  fundamental  proportions  Spinning  -m 
-"of  labor  in  the  industry,  some  interesting  light  the  early 

<5  is  thrown  upon  the  numbers  of  persons  enrolled  per 

in  the  various  crafts  in  the  early  period.  Our  most  com- 
plete information  is  from  Paris,  but  there  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  conditions  there  were  not  entirely  representa- 
tive of  the  maximum  degree  of  industrial  specialization  for 
that  period. 

PROPORTIONS  OF  TEXTILE  WORKERS  IN  THE  PARIS  TAX-ROLLS: 
1292  AND  1300 

1292  1300 

Combers 

Spinners 

Weavers 82  360 

Fullers 24  43 

Dyers 15  33 


204  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  very  large  number  of  weavers  and  the  absence  of  a 
specialized  class  of  spinners  shows  clearly  that  the  weavers 
were  either  having  the  yarn  prepared  in  their  own  households 
or  were  buying  yarn  from  persons  who  did  not  regard  spin- 
ning as  their  main  occupation.  It  is  most  likely  that  the 
separation  between  weaving  and  spinning  took  place  very 
early;  we  have  vague  allusions  which  seem  to  indicate  that 
there  was  an  appreciable  trade  in  yarn  between  different 
regions  of  northern  France  and  between  England  and  the 
Continent.  It  is  entirely  possible  that  Paris  should  have 
drawn  much  yarn  from  the  neighboring  countryside.  The 
women  on  the  farms  were  the  primary  source  of  labor  for 
spinning.  We  hear  little  of  this  aspect  of  the  industry  in  the 
materials  concerned  with  crafts  and  craft  organization  be- 
cause this  labor  was  almost  entirely  unorganized,  but  from 
ant  economic  point  of  view  it  is  important  to  recognize  the 
existence  of  this  group  of  workers  and  it  is  our  misfortune  to 
be  without  any  account  of  the  manner  in  which  the  industry 
was  supplied  with  yarn  in  the  early  period.  It  is  quite  pos- 
sible that  there  was  more  capitalistic  control  of  these  early 
processes  than  we  suspect. 

It  will  be  observed  also  that  there  is  a  disproportion  be- 
tween the  number  of  weavers  and  the  number  of  persons 
The  finish-  engaged  in  finishing,  very  striking  in  the  figures 
ing  crafts  for  ^QQ  This  admits,  however,  of  a  simple 
explanation.  There  is  strong  reason  to  presume  that  much 
unfinished  cloth  was  used  in  this  early  period.  If  this  pre- 
sumption is  well  founded,  it  would  perhaps  explain  why  the 
finishing  crafts,  which  emerged  as  distinct  occupations  before 
weaving,  play  such  an  unimportant  role  in  the  development  of 
capitalistic  control.  The  trade  in  finished  cloth  expanded 
much  less  rapidly  than  the  trade  in  crude  cloth.  The  in- 
dustry as  a  whole  grew  much  more  rapidly  in  the  thirteenth 
and  fourteenth  centuries  than  the  finishing  departments. 
The  crafts  of  fullers  and  dyers  thus  grew  less  rapidly  in  num- 
bers and  hi  wealth,  and  relatively  to  other  textile  crafts  their 
prestige  declined.  This  is  particularly  noticeable  in  the  case 
of  the  dyers  of  Paris. 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          205 

The  subordination  of  the  fullers  was  furthered  by  the 
character  of  the  occupation.  The  work  was  disagreeable 
and  in  the  early  period  involved  little  capital. 
The  cloth  was  placed  in  a  long  trough  with  ful- 
ler's earth,  soap,  or  other  cleansing  and  shrinking  agents. 
Whatever  the  composition  of  the  mixture,  it  was  never  in- 
viting. The  fullers,  with  little  or  no  clothing  to  hamper 
them,  then  proceeded  to  tread  these  mixtures  into  the  cloth. 
Because  of  this  feature  of  the  occupation,  they  were  fre- 
quently called  "walkers."  In  so  far  as  any  pressure  was 
applied  to  the  cloth  in  the  early  period  it  was  merely  the 
pressure  of  the  fuller's  treading.  Jean  de  Garlande  says  that 
the  fullers  worked  naked,  and  that  they  were  a  low,  disor- 
derly group  of  men.  After  the  cloth  was  shrunk,  it  was 
stretched  with  ropes  and  pulleys  —  the  process  called  "  row- 
ing" —  and  then  dried  on  the  grass.  The  fullers  also  went 
over  the  cloth  with  weaver's  teazels  to  raise  the  nap,  though 
this  work  ultimately  became  the  work  of  a  separate  group 
of  workers  called  "burlers."  Fulling  thus  involved  much 
crude  manual  work,  some  of  which  was  so  disagreeable  that 
the  occupation  was  confined  to  a  particularly  low  order  of 
artisans.  Before  weaving  became  a  specialized  occupation 
much  cloth  was  doubtless  finished  off  by  fullers  on  behalf 
of  persons  who  had  done  the  weaving  themselves.  The  craft 
was  therefore  accustomed  to  the  system  of  wage-work  and, 
though  not  exclusively  dominated  by  such  a  system,  it  was 
easy  and  natural  for  them  to  fall  into  the  way  of  working 
for  weavers  or  drapers  instead  of  for  householders. 

Capitalistic  domination  of  fulling  was  also  promoted  by 
the  introduction  of  machinery.    The  dates  of  these  improve- 
ments are  uncertain,  and  we  have  no  adequate  New 
descriptions  of  the  machines,  but  we  have  indi-  aPPUances 
cations  of  the  general  types.    The  first  change  came  with  the 
introduction  of  a  hinged  beam  worked  by  hand,  to  dispense 
with  treading  out  the  cloth.    An  upright  post  was  set  up  at 
the  side  of  the  fulling-trough.     A  heavy  mallet  was  then 
attached  to  the  upper  end  of  the  post  with  a  hinge.     The 
head  of  the  mallet  would  describe  an  arc,  and  would  deliver 


206  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

a  considerable  blow  on  the  cloth  in  the  trough,  beating  it  up 
against  the  side  of  the  post.  The  fuller  worked  the  mallet 
and  passed  the  cloth  along  the  trough  under  its  blows.  The 
cloth  could  thus  be  subjected  to  more  pressure  than  could  be 
secured  by  mere  treading.  At  an  uncertain  date,  not  later 
than  the  sixteenth  century,  a  modification  of  these  fulling 
mills  was  introduced  which  made  it  possible  to  apply  water- 
power.  The  hammer  beam  became  a  kind  of  trip-hammer 
worked  by  a  water  wheel.  The  necessity  of  running  water 
for  scouring  and  washing  invited  such  an  application  of  power, 
and  this  machine  was  sufficiently  within  the  compass  of 
sixteenth-century  mechanics  to  make  it  fairly  certain  that 
the  so-called  "tucking  mills"  were  pretty  generally  intro- 
duced during  the  sixteenth  century.  The  other  process  that 
fell  within  the  province  of  the  fuller,  burling,  was  similarly 
brought  within  the  scope  of  machinery.  The  weavers' 
teazels  were  set  on  large  drums  which  were  turned  by  power, 
sometimes  water-power,  sometimes  power  derived  from 
winches.  These  devices  were  called  "gig  mills." 

The  subordination  of  the  dyers  to  the  capitalists  was  less 
complete.  There  were  greater  opportunities  for  independent 

.  work.  In  some  towns  the  dyers  constituted  an 

important  group  because  they  finished  cloth 
that  was  woven  on  the  farms  and  in  the  villages  of  the  coun- 
tryside, or  even  cloth  that  was  imported  from  a  great  dis- 
tance. However,  much  dyeing  was  done  on  the  premises  of 
the  capitalist  employers  by  journeymen  or  master  dyers  who 
were  hired  for  wages.  A  small  number  of  workmen  could 
handle  the  output  of  a  large  number  of  weavers  and  the  con- 
centration made  for  efficiency. 

The  worsted  industry  differed  from  the  woolen  industry  hi 
some  of  the  proportions  among  the  various  workers.  More 
The  worsted  spinners  were  employed  proportionately  to  the 
industry  weavers  and  fewer  persons  were  necessary  in 

the  finishing  stages.  As  spinning  was  relatively  unskilled 
labor  it  is  obvious  that  the  worsted  industry  could  use  a 
lower  grade  of  labor  than  the  woolen  industry.  Its  competi- 
tive strength  thus  lay  in  the  greater  economy  of  raw  material 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750 


207 


and  its  greater  reliance  upon  cheap  labor.  When  one  con- 
siders that  worsteds  offered  a  greater  variety  of  fabrics  at 
distinctly  lower  prices  it  is  hardly  surprising  that  the  woolen 
industry  lost  ground  steadily,  beginning  at  least  as  early  as 
the  sixteenth  century. 

PROPORTIONS  OF  WORKERS  IN  THE  WORSTED  INDUSTRY  l 


Numbers  of  persons  employed 

Per  pack  of  240 
Ibs.,  nth  cent. 

Per  100  weavers, 
or  12,000  Ibs.  wool 

?  1736 

Sorters  

4 

10 
20 
900 

934  hands 

54 
4 
12 
12 
50 
5 
100 

'6 
120 

126  hands 
10 

22 

32  hands 

Pickers  

Combers  

7 

250 
257  hands 
20 

SPINNERS  

Throwers  or  doublers  

Thread-makers  

Bobbin-  winders  . 
Back-throw  winders  

•  • 

WEAVERS  

25 

45  hands 

237  hands 

6 
6 

»  James:  Worsted  Industry,  211,  218. 

The  preparation  of  the  yarn  required  four  times  as  many 
hands  as  the  work  of  the  weaving  department,  and  half  of  the 
work  of  the  weaving  department  could  be  done  by  persons 
without  much  strength  or  skill.  Little  work  remained  to  be 
done  when  the  cloth  was  taken  from  the  loom.  Conditions 
within  the  industry  were  thus  notably  different  from  the  con- 
ditions in  the  woolen  industry.  The  worsted  weaver  was 
relatively  more  important  socially  and  the  yarn-making  more 
of  an  independent  business.  The  separate  organization  of 
the  preparation  of  worsted  yarns  might  have  worsted  yam 
been  due  to  these  general  features  of  the  indus-  manufacture 
try,  but  in  England,  at  least,  it  is  more  likely  that  the  control 
of  yarn-making  by  a  separate  group  of  capitalists  was  more 


208  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

largely  due  to  the  fact  that  the  working-up  of  the  English 
wool  into  worsted  yarn  became  established  on  a  larger  scale 
than  the  weaving  of  worsteds.  The  supply  of  long  combing 
wool  was  large  and  for  a  long  time  the  wool-growers  remained 
dependent  upon  a  foreign  market.  It  became  possible,  how- 
ever, to  get  the  spinning  done  in  England  long  before  there 
were  enough  worsted  weavers  to  utilize  the  entire  English 
supply. 

There  were  differences  between  the  two  branches  of  the 
woolen  industry,  but  the  development  of  capitalistic  control 
Drapers  and  followed  the  same  general  course.  Integrated 
clothiers  control  was  secured  primarily  through  the  efforts 

of  the  mercantile  class.  The  detailed  reasons  for  the  pre- 
dominance of  this  class  varied  somewhat  in  different  locali- 
ties and  in  the  different  industries,  but  the  drapers  or  clothiers 
became  the  employing  group  except  in  a  portion  of  the  east- 
ern counties  where  the  control  of  the  supply  of  worsted  yarn 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  group  of  wool  brokers  who  came  to 
be  called  "  master  combers."  The  position  of  the  mercantile 
groups  was  probably  stronger  hi  England  than  it  was  on  the 
Continent. 

In  these  statements  about  spinners  one  must  remember 
that  they  were  not  specialized  industrial  workers.  Spinning 
was  a  by-employment,  a  casual  source  of  revenue  to  house- 
holds whose  main  concern  was  agriculture.  If  we  assume 
that  spinning  employed  between  one  hah"  and  two  thirds  of 
the  persons  connected  with  the  textile  manufacture,  the 
dependence  of  industry  upon  agriculture  will  be  readily 
industry  and  apparent.  The  industrial  population  was  not 
agriculture  distinct  from  the  agricultural  population  even 
in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  the  large  numbers  of  persons 
alleged  to  be  concerned  with  the  textile  industry  are  probably 
to  be  explained  in  this  way.  A  pamphleteer  of  1679  declares 
that  700,000  persons  were  at  that  tune  connected  with  and 
dependent  upon  the  woolen  industry.  A  writer  of  similar 
caliber  in  1741  arrives  at  a  total  of  964,000.  These  figures, 
of  course,  seem  impossibly  large  hi  comparison  with  modern 
figures  and  there  is  exaggeration  in  them,  no  doubt,  but  the 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750         209 

totals  must  have  been  large  simply  because  so  large  a  pro- 
portion of  the  total  population  was  more  or  less  casually 
connected  with  the  industry. 

No  comparison  can  be  made  between  such  conditions  and 
those  familiar  to  us.  Occupational  statistics  of  agriculture 
and  industry  mean  nothing  at  that  time  because  the  distinc- 
tion was  not  sharp  enough  to  admit  of  statistical  separation. 
Even  the  skilled  weavers  did  farm-work  during  the  harvest, 
and  more  or  less  gardening  at  all  tunes.  In  the  counties 
which  produced  coarse  cloth,  weaving  and  agriculture  were 
joint  occupations.  In  sections  that  were  prosperous  the 
artisans  who  were  most  highly  specialized  consumed  the  agri- 
cultural surplus  on  the  spot  and  utilized  the  spare  time  of 
those  more  directly  at  work  on  the  land.  When  the  soil  was 
stubborn  the  scant  living  offered  by  the  land  was  eked  out  by 
patient  work  at  the  spindle  and  loom  hi  the  evenings  and  dur- 
ing the  winter.  The  textile  industries  had  thus  become  spe- 
cialized to  a  degree,  but  they  did  not  become  independent  of 
agriculture  or  the  household  until  after  the  Industrial  Revo- 
lution. 

Ill 

The  geography  of  the  industry  in  1550  is  represented  ap- 
proximately by  the  map,  which  is  based  as  far  as  may  be  on 
specific  references  in  the  statutes  and  documents  of  a  similar 
character.  The  difficulty  in  representing  the  location  of  the 
manufacture  lies  in  the  danger  of  shading  large  areas  on  the 
basis  of  general  references,  and  in  the  likelihood,  on  the  other 
hand,  of  undue  emphasis  upon  weaving  and  finishing.  The 
industry  passed  through  three  stages  of  terri-  stages  in  terri- 
torial diffusion.  In  the  earliest  period,  before  mtial  ^^^ 
the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  there  was  much  weaving 
of  homespuns  in  all  the  country  districts.  Coarse  cloths  de- 
signed for  personal  use  were  thus  made,  though  hi  some  coun- 
ties there  was  a  surplus  for  export.  Such  weaving  was  not 
really  a  specialized  craft-industry.  Beginning  hi  the  twelfth 
century  specialized  craft-weaving  became  established  in  the 
trading  centers  and  in  the  larger  towns.  Most  of  these  settle- 


210 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


ments  were  incorporated  during  the  period,  so  that  weaving 
as  craft  was  definitely  associated  with  the  towns.  As  early 
as  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century  in  Suffolk,  somewhat 
later  in  other  counties,  the  industry  began  to  spread  to  the 
smaller  settlements,  some  of  them  fairly  considerable  in 
population,  perhaps,  but  not  possessed  of  corporate  privi- 
leges. Villagers  took  up  weaving,  too,  in  a  more  systematic 
fashion;  a  very  easy  transition  in  those  counties  connected 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          211 

with  the  export  of  homespuns.  The  growth  of  the  industry 
required  much  more  spinning  to  be  done  in  the  country,  and 
there  were  advantages  hi  the  close  association  of  the  vari- 
ous branches  of  the  industry. 

The  shaded  portions  of  the  map  are  intended  to  be  re- 
stricted to  those  counties  and  parts  of  counties  in  which  in- 
dustry was  definitely  spread  through  the  country  districts. 
There  are  two  types  of  industrial  development  represented. 
The  Welsh  counties,  Pembroke,  Caermarthen,  and  Cardigan, 
manufactured  frieses  that  were  sold  to  drapers  from  Shrews- 
bury before  being  finished.  The  drapers  had  them  finished. 
This  represents  a  development  of  the  old  cottage  Location  of  the 
weaving  for  personal  consumption  into  an  ex-  cottage  industry 
port  industry.  The  same  is  true  in  general  of  the  northern 
counties,  Cheshire,  Lancashire,  and  the  West  Riding  of  York. 
The  shaded  portions  of  the  eastern  and  western  counties  were 
the  seat  of  the  broad  cloth  manufacture  in  the  Broad-cloth 
main,  though  some  portions  of  these  regions  districts 
were  concerned  chiefly  with  the  making  of  kerseys.  There 
is  scarcely  sufficient  evidence  for  the  state  of  the  industry  hi 
the  counties  of  Norfolk,  Kent,  and  Sussex,  but  there  seems 
to  be  ground  for  presuming  that  the  industry  was  spreading 
outside  the  towns.  In  Hampshire,  Dorset,  Berkshire,  and 
Worcester  there  was  much  weaving  and  finishing  done,  but 
almost  exclusively  hi  the  towns.  All  three  stages  in  the 
growth  of  the  industry  are  thus  represented  in  some  part  of 
England  hi  1550. 

The  development  of  the  country  industry  was  in  a  measure 
unfavorable  to  the  weavers  of  the  large  towns.  They  were 
obliged  to  compete  with  the  country  weavers, 

j   ...  ,'.-  ,,  u        Cheap  labor 

and  this  competition  was  the  more  severe  be- 
cause the  country  weavers  were  not  working  wholly  on  their 
own  account.  Most  of  them  were  weaving  yarns  given  out 
to  them  by  the  clothiers  of  the  towns.  These  clothiers  had 
thus  begun  to  develop  the  supply  of  cheap  labor  found  hi  the 
country  districts.  The  town  weaver  thus  found  that  the  cloth 
merchant  was  becoming  a  manufacturer  who  competed  with 
him  instead  of  buying  his  cloth  or  hiring  him  to  do  his  weaving. 


212  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  weavers  of  the  towns,  being  organized  in  gilds  or  other 
associations,  were  able  to  bring  pressure  to  bear  on  Parlia- 
The  weaver's  ment,  and  in  1555  the^WeavOT|s_Act  was  passed 
Act  which  was  designed  to  afford  them  relief .  It  was 

provided  that  no  clothier,  outside  of  a  city,  borough,  market 
town,  or  town  corporate,  should  have  more  than  one  loom, 
or  receive  any  profit  from  the  letting  of  looms,  or  let  any 
house  in  which  looms  are  set  up.  That  no  woolen  weaver 
outside  city  or  town  should  have  more  than  two  looms. 
That  no  weaver  should  have  a  fulling  mill,  or  act  as  a  fuller 
or  dyer.  That  no  fuller  or  dyer  should  have  any  loom. 
That  persons  taking  up  the  occupation  of  clothier  should  have 
no  weaving  done  for  them  outside  cities  and  towns.  That 
weavers  outside  cities  or  towns  should  not  have  more  than 
two  apprentices.  That  no  one  should  be  a  weaver  unless  he 
had  served  seven  years  as  an  apprentice. 

This  statute,  if  enforced,  would  have  well-nigh  put  an  end 
to  the  capitalistic  developments  that  had  become  established. 
The  industry  would  have  remained  in  that  state  of  disinte- 
gration characteristic  of  the  earliest  stages  of  craft  develop- 
ment. The  clothier  was  permitted  forsooth  to  have  one 
loom,  but  that  would  have  been  small  consolation.  The 
market  towns  were  included  within  the  area  open  to  indus- 
try, but  this  also  was  a  trifling  concession.  The  act  was 
never  really  enforced  to  its  full  extent.  Appended  to  the 
original  act  as  a  separate  schedule,  perhaps  therefore  an 
amendment,  there  is  a  proviso  exempting  all 
the  northern  counties  from  all  the  prohibitions 
of  the  statute.  In  these  counties,  York,  Northumberland, 
Cumberland,  and  Westmoreland,  there  was  much  cottage 
spinning  and  weaving,  primarily  but  not  exclusively  for 
personal  consumption.  In  the  West  Riding  of  York  the 
weavers  were  producing  goods  for  export.  The  apprentice- 
ship provisions  would  have  worked  great  hardships  in  these 
districts,  and  they  were  consequently  exempted.  Other  ex- 
emptions followed  shortly  which  ultimately  removed  from 
the  application  of  the  statute  most  of  the  country  districts 
in  which  the  industry  was  established.  In  1557-58  exemp* 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          213 

tions  designed  to  cover  cottage  industry  were  extended  to 
Durham  and  Cornwall.  In  the  more  important  clothing 
districts,  in  which  capitalistic  methods  were  established,  all 
existing  establishments  and  practices  were  to  be  allowed 
despite  the  prohibitions,  and  in  certain  specified  districts 
new  establishments  might  be  set  up  by  persons  who  had 
served  an  apprenticeship  as  clothier.  The  districts  speci- 
fied in  the  amending  act  were:  the  counties  of  Suffolk  and 
Kent,  the  town  of  Godalmine,  in  Surrey,  and  the  towns 
or  villages  near  or  adjoining  the  Water  of  Stroude  in  the 
County  of  Gloucester.  Clothiers  were  required  to  serve  an 
apprenticeship  in  the  future,  but  those  who  had  not  served 
an  apprenticeship  were  not  required  to  abandon  their  busi- 
ness. These  provisions  were  included  in  a  long  statute  on 
the  cloth  manufacture,  so  that  it  would  seem  that  the  adroit- 
ness of  the  capitalists  in  matters  of  high  politics  was  consid- 
erable, to  say  the  least.  Portions  of  Essex  were  exempted  in 
1558-59,  and  in  1575  the  exemptions  were  extended  to  prac- 
tically the  entire  west  of  England  clothing  district. 

This  last  statute  was  a  straightforward  piece  of  legislation. 
The  other  acts  were  not  very  specific,  a  general  formula  was 
provided,  but  there  was  no  detailed  description  of  either  the 
current  practices  of  the  clothiers  or  of  the  practices  which 
should  be  accounted  lawful.  The  Statute  of  1575,  however, 
contained  a  substantial  statement  of  the  condition  of  the 
industry  in  these  counties.  The  preambles  of  statutes  are, 
on  the  whole,  untrustworthy  evidence,  but  in  this  case  there 
is  sufficient  contemporary  material  of  other  kinds  to  confirm 
the  general  outline  of  this  description. 

Forasmuch  as  divers  and  sundry  persons  have  hertofore  of  long 
time  used  and  exercised  the  Feate  and  Mystery  of  cloth-making  in 
the  Counties  of  Somerset,  Wiltshire,  and  Gloucester,  The  putting- 
and  have  at  great  costs  and  charges  planted  them-  out  system 
selves  and  their  dwelling  houses  dispersedly  throughout  the  said 
counties,  and  neither  in  Cities,  Boroughs,  Towns  Corporate  or 
Market  Towns,  as  might  and  may  serve  most  conveniently  for  the 
use  and  exercise  of  the  said  Feat  and  Mystery,  namely  about  the 
Rivers  of  Fromewater,  Kingswoodwater,  the  Rivers  of  Avon,  Willi- 
bourne,  and  Salisbury  bournes,  and  Stroud  water,  in  the  said  coun- 


214  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ties  of  Somerset,  Wiltshire,  and  Gloucester  and  the  branches  of 
the  same  waters;  And  also  for  that  the  said  places  and  waters  are 
very  good  and  apt  for  Clothing,  together  with  the  great  number  of 
Fulling  Mills  and  other  workhouses  therto  adjoining  maintained 
only  by  the  Cloth-making  in  the  Villages  and  Parishes  thereabouts: 
And  forasmuch  also  as  a  great  multitude  of  poor  people  as  Weavers, 
Tuckers,  Spinsters,  and  the  like,  have  of  long  time  heretofore  and 
at  this  present,  do  inhabit  and  dwell  near  unto  the  said  places  and 
waters,  by  means  of  the  great  Clothmaking  there,  heretofore  and 
now  used,  and  have  been  only  relieved  and  sustained  by  the  same; 
and  also  for  that  great  inconvenience  might  ensue  within  the  said 
counties  of  Somerset,  Wiltshire,  and  Gloucester,  in  removing  and 
placing  of  such  a  multitude  in  or  within  any  City,  Borough,  Town 
Corporate,  or  Market  Town,  according  to  the  meaning  of  the  said 
act  [i.e.,  of  1555]  .  .  . 

The  body  of  the  statute  provided  that  the  prohibitions  of 
the  Weaver's  Act  with  reference  to  the  fulling  and  weaving  of 
woolen  cloth  should  be  repealed  in  so  far  as  they  applied  to 
the  counties  of  Somerset,  Wiltshire,  and  Gloucester.  Clothiers 
in  these  counties,  however,  were  forbidden  to  make  cloth 
"except  in  such  houses  and  places"  as  were  devoted  to  the 
cloth  manufacture  for  the  ten  years  prior  to  1555.  Clothiers 
in  the  future  should  not  hold  more  than  twenty  acres  of  land, 
and  clothiers  now  engaged  in  this  occupation  should  not  add  to 
their  present  holdings,  subject  to  a  fine  of  six  shillings  eight 
pence  per  acre  per  year  for  land  held  contrary  to  the  statute. 

After  1550  there  was  a  tendency  toward  the  concentration 
of  the  woolen  industry  in  the  exempted  districts  of  the  eastern 
situation  an(l  western  counties,  but  this  was  partly  an 
after  isss  outcome  of  natural  economic  forces.  The  ex- 
emptions to  the  Act  of  1555  are  so  numerous  that  one  must 
needs  assume  that  all  the  important  districts  were  ultimately 
included  in  the  exemptions.  The  vested  interest  argument 
that  led  to  the  Act  of  1555  was  equally  potent  in  nullifying 
it:  wherever  important  changes  were  likely  to  be  forced  by 
its  provisions,  the  prohibitions  were  raised.  The  Act  of 
1555  might  thus  result  in  fixing  the  existing  situation,  but  it 
is  hardly  likely  that  the  location  of  the  industry  was  signifi- 
cantly changed. 

The  conditions  of  the  time  also  tended  toward  stabilizing 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          215 

the  industry  in  existing  locations.  The  rise  of  the  "New 
Drapery"  at  this  time  subjected  the  woolen  industry  to 
pressure  that  became  increasingly  important.  The  industry 
seems  also  to  have  been  affected  by  foreign  competition,  if 
contemporary  opinion  may  be  trusted.  The  Spanish  trade 
was  accounted  the  cause  of  a  decline  in  the  early  seventeenth 
century.  The  introduction  of  the  East  Indian  cottons  and 
silks  hi  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  added  to  the 
difficulties  of  the  industry.  The  influence  was  felt  by  the 
entire  range  of  industries  based  on  wool,  but 
most  keenly  by  the  woolen  industry.  The  New 
Drapery  stood  up  to  the  competition  better.  The  woolen 
industry  was  thus  subjected  to  various  kinds  of  strain  from 
the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  It  is  likely  that 
it  ceased  to  expand  at  that  time,  and  it  is  certain  that  its 
growth  was  less  rapid  than  the  growth  of  the  worsted  indus- 
try. It  is  difficult  to  date  these  changes  accurately  with  the 
information  available,  but  it  is  at  least  plausible  to  suppose 
that  the  expansion  of  the  industry  which  carried  it  into  the 
country  districts  of  the  west  in  the  early  sixteenth  century 
marks  the  climax  of  the  development  of  the  old  drapery  — 
the  woolen  manufacture  in  its  narrow  sense.  The  restrictive 
legislation  thus  came  at  a  time  when  the  industry  was 
already  at  its  highest  point. 

In  Suffolk,  Essex,  and  portions  of  the  west  of  England  the 
decline  of  the  woolen  industry  was  obscured  by  a  transfer  to 
worsted  goods.  In  these  counties  particular  towns  or  local- 
ities lost  ground,  though  the  industrial  character  of  the 
county  as  a  whole  was  not  profoundly  affected.  In  other 
districts  no  new  textile  manufacture  came  in  to  replace  the 
woolen  industry.  Kent,  Sussex,  Hampshire,  and  Berkshire 
seem  to  have  suffered  severely,  though  some  woolen  manu- 
facture lingered  in  these  counties  until  the  close  of  the  eight- 
eenth century. 

IV 

The  Weaver's  Act  and  the  other  legislation  of  the  period 
afford  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  existence  of  a  putting- 


216 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


out  system  of  considerable  proportions.  Conditions  would 
seem  to  imply  that  this  capitalistic  control  was  not  new  at 
that  time,  and  various  items  of  evidence  indicate  the  existence 
of  the  system  a  century  or  a  century  and  a  half  earlier.  Aul- 
nagers'  accounts  for  1395  and  1396  suggest  much.  The  aul- 
nager  was  the  official  measurer  of  cloth  charged  with  the  duty 
of  inspecting  cloth  as  to  width  and  length  to  insure  compli- 
ance with  the  statutes,  fiis  duties  would  thus  bring  him  in 
touch  with  the  entire  industry,  and  his  accounts  should  afford 
a  clear  indication  of  relative  conditions. 

RELATIVE  SCALE  OP  THE  CLOTH  MANUFACTURE:  1395-1396 


District 

No.  of  pieces  of  cloth 
inspected 

No.  of  persons 
responsible  for 
manufacture 

Average  number  of 
pieces  per  person 

Suffolk  

733  (broad) 

120 

6 

Romsey  

30-46  (dozens) 

4 

7.5-11.5 

Coggeshall  

1200  (narrow) 

9 

133.3 

Brain  tree  

2400  (narrow) 

8 

300 

Barnstaplo  

3685  (broad) 

11 

335 

If  we  may  assume  these  figures  to  be  at  all  characteristic 
it  is  safe  to  say  that  the  putting-out  system  was  established 
Be  *  'n  s  of  on  a  considerable  scale  in  portions  of  the  west 
the  putting-  of  England  clothing  district  and  in  some  towns 
of  Essex.  The  dozens  produced  in  Romsey  were 
short,  so  that  the  scale  of  manufacture  is  really  about  the 
same  as  that  for  broad  cloths  in  Suffolk.  The  fact  that  the 
manufactures  in  Essex,  Coggeshall,  and  Braintree,  were 
working  on  narrow  cloths  also  reduces  the  significance  of  the 
figures.  These  cloths  were  one  yard  wide  as  compared  with 
the  yard  and  three  quarters  width  of  the  broad  cloths.  In 
terms  of  value  of  output,  therefore,  the  manufacture  in  the 
west  of  England  was  organized  on  an  appreciably  larger  scale. 

Detailed  evidence  of  the  character  of  the  putting-out  sys- 
tem in  particular  places  is  not  available  until  a  much  later 
date.  Some  of  the  earliest  evidence  is  from  Colchester. 
The  trade  ordinances  of  1411  provided  that  no  weaver  should 
be  compelled  to  take  any  merchandise  or  victuals  for  wages 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          217 

against  his  will.  This  may  indicate  a  putting-out  system,  but 
one  cannot  be  certain.  Other  ordinances,  made  at  Col- 
chester in  1452,  are  more  specific.  They  prescribe  certain 
weights  for  the  wool  given  out  by  weavers  to  combers  and 
spinners 

If  these  references  are  interpreted  hi  the  light  of  subse- 
quent inf ormation  we  may  conclude  that  two  forms  of  put- 
ting-out were  practiced  at  Colchester.  There 

Colchester 

were  clothiers  or  drapers  who  gave  out  yarn  to 
poor  weavers.  There  were  also  wealthier  weavers  who  put 
out  raw  wool  to  be  worked  up  into  yarn.  There  is  no  reason 
to  presume  that  both  systems  did  not  exist  thus  side  by  side. 
The  existence  of  the  putting-out  system  is  compatible  with 
great  diversities  of  organization  even  in  a  single  locality. 
The  richer  weavers  here  continued  the  traditions  of  pure 
craft-work,  so  that  it  would  seem  that  the  craft-form  existed 
despite  the  development  of  the  newer  capitalistic  form.  This 
was  probably  characteristic  of  the  eastern  counties,  and  is 
well  illustrated  by  the  aulnagers'  accounts  already  cited. 
The  average  output  of  the  Suffolk  manufacturer  was  six 
pieces,  but  there  were  seven  or  eight  of  the  hundred  and 
twenty  listed  who  made  a  score  or  more  pieces  each.  The 
smaller  master  weavers  thus  made  about  five  pieces,  and  the 
larger  manufacturers  made  twenty  or  twenty-five.  The 
richer  weavers,  who  thus  retained  their  independence,  be- 
came capitalists  in  a  measure,  enlisting  the  services  of  women 
who  did  combing  and  spinning  in  their  homes  for  a  piece 
wage.  The  poorer  weavers  became  the  employees  of  the 
clothiers. 

Pure  craft-work  could  not  long  maintain  itself.     The 
craftsmen  in  each  industry  moved  up  or  down  the  scale  soon 
after  the  industry  reached  the  maximum  degree  Craft  inde_ 
of  disintegration.    This  instability  of  the  pure  pendence 
craft  stage  is  not  adequately  emphasized  by 
Biicher  and  his  followers,  nor  is  the  brief  duration  of  such 
arrangements  fully  appreciated  by  those  who  like  to  think 
of  the  middle  ages  as  the  golden  age  of  the  artisan.    Inde- 
pendent craft-work  was  a  short-lived  form  of  organization 


218  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

in  the  industries  of  major  importance,  and,  even  if  the  extent 
of  capitalistic  supervision  was  moderate,  the  rise  of  capitalism 
in  this  mild  form  was  none  the  less  an  important  social  trans- 
formation. Indefiniteness  of  outline  and  paucity  of  informa- 
tion have  tended  to  obscure  both  the  early  date  at  which  the 
putting-out  system  became  established  and  the  extent  to 
which  such  arrangements  dominated  the  chief  industrial 
districts. 

The  Statute  of  1464-65  is  our  best  source  of  information  as 
to  the  extent  of  this  system  in  the  fifteenth  century.  This 
was  a  truck  act,  to  use  the  modern  expression,  and  while  it  is 
not  very  specific  in  its  terms  it  implies  clearly  that  the  entire 
woolen  industry  was  dominated  by  the  putting-out  system. 
Complete  description  is  not  possible  until  the  close  of  the 
sixteenth  century.  The  researches  of  Unwin  hi  connection 
with  the  Victorian  County  History  of  Suffolk  have  brought  to 
light  much  new  material,  and,  though  the  system  was  not 
established  as  early  in  that  county  as  elsewhere,  conditions  in 
the  late  sixteenth  century  must  have  been  fairly  representa- 
tive. 

The  first  stage  .  .  .  was  the  purchase  of  the  wool  after  shearing. 
This  might  be  made  by  the  manufacturing  clothier  direct  from  the 
Suffolk  wool  grower,  but  for  a  century  before  this  period  the  inter- 
brokers  vention  of  the  middleman  or  broker  had  been  becom- 
ing more  and  more  necessary.  As  the  industry  expanded  the  wool 
grower  and  clothier  frequently  found  themselves  in  different  coun- 
ties, and  had  no  time  to  seek  each  other  out.  Even  when  they  were 
within  reach  of  each  other,  capital  was  needed  to  tide  over  the 
period  of  waiting.  In  some  cases  this  was  furnished  by  the  wealth- 
ier wool  growers  or  clothiers  themselves,  but  the  capital  of  the 
majority  of  either  class  was  not  large,  and  the  demand  upon  it  was 
greatest  at  sheep-shearing  time.  The  broker,  therefore,  who  bar- 
gained for  the  wool  beforehand,  collected  it  and  supplied  it  on 
credit  or  held  it  over  till  it  was  wanted,  supplied  an  indispensable 
link  between  the  small  producers  of  wool  and  of  cloth.  .  .  . 

Coming  next  to  the  clothier,  into  whose  hands  the  wool  directly 

or  indirectly  passed,  we  have  to  do  with  a  class  of  the  most  varied 

status.     Some  of  its  members  were  large  employers 

The  clothiers           /.  i   ,  .  ,1  ,  • 

of  labor  and  at  the  same  time  merchants  upon  an  ex- 
tensive scale;  others  only  contrived  to  keep  themselves  above  the 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          219 

level  of  the  laboring  class  by  dint  of  constant  alertness  and  thrift 
and  the  possession  of  a  minimum  of  capital.  A  petition  of  clothiers 
was  presented  to  the  government  in  1585  against  the  activities  of 
licensed  brokers,  complaining  that  as  their  own  capital  was  not 
great  they  had  to  buy  at  second,  third,  and  fourth  hand  in  the  latter 
end  of  the  year  at  excessive  prices.  Of  166  names  appended  to  this 
document,  representing  nine  or  ten  counties,  forty-one  were  those 
of  Suffolk  clothiers.  No  other  county  in  the  list  (Norfolk  was  not 
included)  furnished  more  than  half  that  number;  and  no  doubt  the 
petitioners,  in  spite  of  protestations  of  poverty,  were  the  represen- 
tatives of  a  more  numerous  class.  In  the  hands  of  these  capitalists, 
small  or  great,  lay  the  control  and  direction  of  the  manufacture, 
with  the  exception  of  the  finishing  processes  which  were  of  ten  carried 
out  after  the  cloth  had  been  disposed  of  to  the  merchant. 

Although  some  undyed  cloth  was  made  in  Suffolk,  the  greater 
part  seems  to  have  been  dyed  blue  in  the  wool,  whilst  a  smaller 
portion  was  further  dyed  violet,  purple,  or  green  after  it  had  been 
woven.  .  .  . 

The  carding  and  spinning  were  mostly  done  by  women  and 
children  in  their  cottage  homes  all  over  the  countryside.  "The 
custom  of  the  country  is,"  says  another  petition  of  Carding  and 
Suffolk  clothiers  in  1575,  "to  carry  our  wool  out  to  spinning 
carding  and  spinning  and  put  it  to  divers  and  sundry  spinners  who 
have  in  their  houses  divers  and  sundry  children  and  servants 
that  do  card  and  spin  the  same  wool.  Some  of  them  card  upon  new 
cards  and  some  upon  old  cards  and  some  spin  hard  yarn  and  some 
soft ...  by  reason  whereof  our  cloth  falleth  out  in  some  places 
broad  and  some  narrow  contrary  to  our  mind  and  greatly  to  our 
disprofit."  .  .  .  Although  the  preparation  of  yarn  was  chiefly  carried 
on  in  the  villages  and  smaller  towns,  it  also  continued  to  find  occu- 
pation for  a  considerable  amount  of  semi-pauperized  labor  in  the 
larger  towns.  Spinning  indeed  was  the  main  resource  of  those 
whose  duty  it  became,  under  the  New  Poor  Law,  to  find  work  for 
the  unemployed,  and  in  institutions  such  as  Christ's  Hospital, 
Ipswich  (founded  1595),  children  were  set  to  card  and  spin  wool 
from  their  tenderest  years.  .  .  . 

The  spinners,  who  never  seem  to  have  possessed  any  organiza- 
tion of  their  own,  were  very  liable  to  oppression  on  the  part  of  their 
employers,  not  only  through  low  wages,  but  also  through  payment 
in  kind  and  the  exaction  of  arbitrary  fines.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  to  find  them  frequently  accused  of  keeping  back  part  of 
the  wool  given  out  to  them  and  of  making  up  the  weight  by  the 
addition  of  oil  and  moisture  to  the  yarn.  The  natural  connexion 
of  these  two  evils  found  recognition  in  a  Bill  presented  to  the 
Parliament  of  1593,  which  while  imposing  fresh  penalties  on  frauds 


220  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

in  spinning  and  weaving,  proposed  at  the  same  time  to  raise  the 
wages  of  spinners  and  weavers  by  a  third.  The  Bill  failed  to  pass, 
but  the  regulation  of  wages  in  the  interest  of  the  spinners  continued 
to  be  a  problem  of  poor  law  administration  during  the  next  half 
century. 

The  yarn  woven  in  the  country  districts  was  collected  by  riders 
sent  out  by  the  clothiers  and  delivered  to  the  weavers.  The 
„,  weaver,  though  he  too  was  dependent  on  the  clothier 

Weavers  ,.  ,  *  •           iTii 

for  employment,  was  not  in  so  helpless  a  position  as 
the  spinners.  The  power  of  his  organization  in  the  town,  though 
weakened,  was  not  destroyed.  The  line  between  the  clothier  and 
the  weaver  was,  at  first,  not  sharply  drawn.  The  more  prosperous 
among  the  weavers  gradually  developed  into  clothiers,  and  Suffolk 
was  one  of  the  counties  in  which  this  tendency  was  allowed  to  have 
free  play,  since  it  was  exempted  from  the  operation  of  the  statutes 
forbidding  clothiers  to  set  up  outside  the  market  towns.  But 
although  a  master  weaver  here  and  there  might  rise  in  the  world, 
the  majority  were  sinking  into  the  position  of  wage  earners.  A 
petition  of  weavers  of  Ipswich,  Hadleigh,  Lavenham,  Bergholt,  and 
other  towns  in  1539  states  that  the  clothiers  have  their  own  looms 
and  weavers  and  fullers  in  their  own  houses,  so  that  the  master 
weavers  are  rendered  destitute.  "  For  the  rich  men,  the  clothiers, 
be  concluded  and  agreed  among  themselves  to  hold  and  pay  one 
price  for  weaving,  which  price  is  too  little  to  sustain  households  upon, 
working  night  and  day,  holy  day  and  week  day,  and  many  weavers 
are  therefore  reduced  to  the  position  of  servants."  As  a  rule, 
however,  the  weaving  continued  to  be  done  in  the  weavers'  houses, 
although  perhaps  in  some  cases  the  loom  was  the  property  of  the 
employer.  Elaborate  regulations  both  by  Parliament  and  by  the 
local  authorities  were  to  insure  that  the  right  weight  of  yarn  should 
be  delivered  by  the  clothier,  and  that  none  of  it  should  be  wasted 
or  stolen  by  the  weaver.  The  fuller,  who  next  took  over  the 
cloth,  was  also  employed  by  the  clothier.  It  would  be  a  natural 
thing  for  a  fuller  with  a  little  spare  capital  to  set  up  a  loom  in 
his  house,  and  no  doubt  he  did  so,  as  we  find  it  forbidden  in  later 
ordinances,  just  as  we  find  the  weavers  and  shearmen  prosecuted 
for  setting  up  as  clothiers. 

When  the  cloth  was  woven  and  fulled  the  clothier  might  have  it 
finished  by  the  local  shearman,  but  he  more  often  seems  to  have 
disposed  of  it  to  the  merchant.  The  two  chief  markets  for  the  Suf- 
folk clothier  were  London  and  Ipswich.  A  good  deal  of  Suffolk 
cloth  was  bought  by  the  London  clothworkers  to  finish,  and  some 
was  bought  by  the  London  merchants  ready  finished  for  export.1 

1  George  Unwin,  in  the  V.C.H.  Suffolk,  n,  257-59. 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750 

There  are  no  concrete  statements  to  indicate  the  scale  of 
these  clothiers'  operations  until  1618.  Reyce,  in  the  Breviary 
of  Suffolk,  written  in  that  year,  says: 

It  is  reckoned  that  he  which  maketh  ordinarily  twenty  broad- 
cloths every  week  cannot  set  as  few  awork  as  five  hundred  persons, 
for  by  the  time  his  wool  is  come  home  and  is  sorted  scale  of 
saymed,  what  with  breakers,  dyers,    wood-setters,  manufacture 
wringers,  spinners,  weavers,  burlers,  shearmen,  and  carriers,  be- 
sides his  own  large  family,  the  number  will  soon  be  accomplished. 
Some  there  be  that  weekly  set  more  at  work,  but  of  this  number 
there  are  not  many.1 

There  is  sufficient  evidence  to  show  that  this  system  was 
common  hi  the  woolen  districts  of  Essex,  and  throughout  the 
western  counties.  In  all  essential  details  the  system  was  in 
vogue  hi  the  west  of  England  in  1806,  and,  as  wide  vogue  of 
the  clothing  industry  had  died  out  hi  the  eastern  this  system 
counties  by  that  time,  the  Woolen  Report  calls  the  system 
the  "West  of  England  Clothier  System."  In  so  far  as  this 
is  regarded  as  a  definite  system,  its  distinctive  feature  consists 
in  the  precise  extent  of  the  domination  of  the  industry  by  the 
clothier;  his  control  extended  at  least  to  both  preparation  of 
the  yam  and  weaving  of  the  cloth,  together  with  incidental 
dyeing  of  yarn  or  cloth.  If  the  finishing  were  done  before  the 
cloth  was  sold  it  was  done  under  the  supervision  of  the  cloth- 
ier. Thus  we  can  say  that  all  the  work  done  on  the  wool  up 
to  the  time  of  its  reaching  the  wholesale  merchant  was 
controlled  by  the  clothier. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  and  hi  the  early 
decades  of  the  following  century,  there  were  two  other  forms 
of  the  putting-out  system;  one  common  in  the  west,  the  other 
in  the  worsted  districts  of  the  eastern  counties.  In  these 
cases  the  industry  was  divided  into  two  sections,  spinning 
and  weaving  being  separately  organized.  In  the  western 
counties  there  were  many  poor  people  "that  will  not  spin 
to  the  clothier  for  small  wages:  but  have  stock  enough  to  set 
themselves  on  work,  and  do  weekly  buy  then*  wool  hi  the 
market  by  very  small  parcels  according  to  their  use,  and 

1  V.CJI.  Suffolk,  n,  262. 


222  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

weekly  return  it  in  yarn,  and  make  good  profit  thereof,  having 
the  benefit  both  of  their  labor  and  of  their  merchandise, 
and  live  exceeding  well.  These  yarn  makers  are  so  many  hi 
number  that  it  is  supposed  by  men  of  judgment  that  more 
than  half  the  cloth  that  is  made  in  Wilts,  Gloucester,  and 
Somersetshire  is  made  by  means  of  these  yarn  makers  and 
poor  clothiers  that  depend  weekly  upon  the 

Poor  clothiers  . 

wool  chapmen  which  serves  them  weekly  with 
wools  either  for  money  or  for  credit."  1  The  poor  clothiers 
ref ered  to  were  men  whose  means  were  not  great  enough  to 
enable  them  to  dominate  the  entire  industry.  The  large 
clothiers  controlled  only  about  half  the  woolen  manufacture 
of  the  west. 

In  the  eastern  counties  there  was  also  a  place  for  the  poorer 
clothiers,  but  it  was  largely  in  the  worsted  industry,  in  which 
the  preparation  of  the  yarn  was  a  special  business.  The 
division  of  the  worsted  industry,  however,  was  not  entirely 
due  to  relative  wealth  or  poverty  of  clothiers,  weavers,  and 
spinners.  There  had  long  been  an  export  trade  hi  worsted 
yarn  from  the  eastern  counties  to  the  Continent.  Spinning 
thus  came  to  be  organized  upon  a  relatively  larger  scale  than 
weaving,  weaving  being  definitely  of  subordinate  importance 
until  the  seventeenth  century.  A  group  of 

Master  combers  .  .   .       ~L 

master  combers  appeared  in  the  eastern  coun- 
ties: persons  who  bought  wool,  put  it  out  to  combers  and 
spinners,  and  sold  the  yarn  hi  London  or  to  exporters. 
Worsted  weaving  was  done  primarily  hi  the  towns  by  master 
weavers  of  small  means.  They  were  dependent  in  a  measure 
upon  the  supply  of  yarn  produced  by  the  master  combers, 
but  they  frequently  bought  wool  on  their  own  account  and 
put  it  out  to  be  spun.  There  was  therefore  little  capitalistic 
control  of  weaving.  This  system  persisted,  or  rather  ac- 
quired sharper  definition,  and  is  described  in  the  Woolen 
Report  of  1806  as  the  "Master  Comber  System  of  Norfolk." 
In  the  earlier  period  the  system  seems  to  have  been  more 
widely  diffused  throughout  the  eastern  counties. 

1  Extracts  from  a  document  in  S.P.D.  Jac.  I,  1615,  printed  by  Unwin, 
Industrial  Organization,  234-35. 


THE  WOOLEN  INDUSTRIES:  1450-1750          223 

This  great  development  of  putting-out  involved  not  only 
the  establishment  of  a  network  embracing  many  cottage 
workers,  but  also  implied  the  creation  of  quite  considerable 
central  workshops  to  handle  the  business.  Each  large  put- 
ting-out establishment  thus  resulted  in  the  creation  of  some- 
thing that  strongly  resembles  a  small  factory.  The  line 
dividing  the  putting-out  system  from  the  factory  is  at  all 
times  vague  and  must  have  been  particularly  vague  at  this 
time.  It  is  thus  entirely  natural  that  there  should  have 
been  some  experimentation  with  the  factory  system.  The 
number  of  concrete  instances  known  to  us  is  small,  but  the 
fact  is  beyond  question.  The  most  notable  of 
these  early  adventurers  was  John  Winchcombe, 
familiarly  called  "  Jack  of  Newbury "  and  duly  celebrated  in 
prose  and  verse.  The  metrical  version  of  his  story  confines 
itself  to  so  many  round  numbers  that  it  would  seem  unwise 
to  presume  accuracy  in  details.  There  may  be  some  element 
of  legend  in  the  numbers.  The  numbers  given  are  as  follows : 

200  weavers 
200  quill  boys 
100  women  carding  wool 
200  girls  spinning 
150  children  picking 
50  shearmen 
80  rowers 
40  dyers 
20  fullers 

1040  persons  employed 

These  proportions  are  hardly  in  accord  with  the  indications 
cited  previously.  The  force  of  weavers  and  quill  boys  is 
apparently  excessive.  Such,  however,  is  the  legend,  and 
whatever  the  precise  extent  of  the  establishment,  there  can 
be  little  doubt  but  that  Jack  of  Newbury  was  indeed  experi- 
menting with  the  factory  system  in  the  early  years  of  the  reign 
of  Henry  VIII.  Leland  the  antiquarian  speaks  of  one  Stump, 
a  clothier,  who  leased  the  Abbey  of  Malmesbury  "to  be  full 
of  looms  and  to  weave  cloth."  Later  the  same  person  is 
reputed  to  have  leased  an  Abbey  near  Oxford  agreeing  to 
employ  two  thousand  persons  "  to  succor  the  city  of  Oxford." 


224  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Ashley  has  inferred  from  the  legislation  of  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  that  there  was  a  significant  tendency 
weakness  toward  the  factory  system.  It  is  difficult  to  see 
of  the  factory  the  grounds  f or  this  inference,  though  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that  there  were  sporadic  experi- 
ments. The  putting-out  system  had  disadvantages  which 
must  have  been  keenly  realized  by  the  clothiers,  but  there  was 
at  that  time  no  clear  financial  advantage  to  be  secured  by 
collecting  the  employees  in  factories.  The  putting-out  sys- 
tem remained  the  dominant  form  of  industrial  organization 
in  both  England  and  on  the  Continent  until  the  Industrial 
Revolution.  There  was  rather  more  experimentation  with 
the  factory  in  France  than  in  England,  perhaps  because  the 
experiments  began  somewhat  later  —  in  the  seventeenth 
century.  But  on  the  whole  the  factory  was  not  an  undoubted 
success.  Some  of  the  French  establishments  maintained 
themselves,  but  they  were  not  independent  of  state  subsidies. 
The  tapestry  manufacture  at  the  Gobelins'  is  the  best  known 
of  these  seventeenth-century  factories,  but  there  were  other 
tapestry  manufactures  and  two  or  three  cloth-making  estab- 
lishments. The  latter  failed  after  various  vicissitudes.  In 
the  eighteenth  century  paper  mills  were  established  in  the 
Rhone  Valley  which  were  undoubtedly  factories  in  every 
sense  of  the  word.  But  these  isolated  cases  were  not  des- 
tined to  exert  any  profound  influence  upon  the  general  forms 
of  industrial  organization.  At  the  same  tune  these  early 
experiments  are  sufficiently  important  to  force  us  to  recognize 
that  factories  were  not  a  novelty,  first  introduced  at  the  time 
of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  It  was  a  form  that  was  well 
known,  though  it  had  not  proved  to  be  economically  profit- 
able on  any  extensive  scale.  Fuller  knowledge  of  the  forms 
of  organization  prevalent  during  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries  will  probably  destroy  all  claims  for  the  nov- 
elty of  the  factories  that  emerge  as  a  direct  result  of  the 
changes  brought  about  by  the  Industrial  Revolution. 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM 


THE  enclosure  movement  was  the  transformation  of  the 
methods  of  agriculture  and  field  arrangements  which  substi- 
tuted for  the  open  fields  of  the  medieval  period 
the  hedged  and  ditched  fields  of  modern  Eng- 
land. The  land  of  individual  proprietors  under  the  new 
arrangement  was  concentrated  in  the  solid  blocks  of  territory 
that  characterize  the  modern  farmstead.  The  enclosure  is 
thus  closely  associated  with  the  break-up  of  the  open  fields, 
and  one  tends  to  think  of  enclosed  fields  as  always  succeed- 
ing the  older  open  fields;  this,  however,  is  not  strictly  true. 
It  is  now  recognized  that  the  open-field  system  never  pre- 
vailed systematically  in  the  eastern  counties,  and  it  has 
always  been  known  that  enclosures  were  frequently  formed 
by  clearing  forest  land  or  heath  that  had  formerly  been 
used  for  pasture.  Hedged  and  ditched  fields  might  thus 
originate  in  a  variety  of  ways,  and,  hi  so  far  as  they  repre- 
sented the  original  mode  of  settlement  or  an  improvement 
of  land  that  was  regarded  as  "  waste,"  enclosed  fields  can- 
not properly  be  associated  with  the  enclosure  movement. 

The  changes  described  by  the  term  "  enclosure  movement" 
include  three  kinds  or  degrees  of  rearrangement  of  fields:  the 
scattered  strips  belonging  to  the  demesne  farm  , 

Various  forms 

might  be  brought  together  in  solid  blocks  and 
enclosed;  portions  of  the  common  pasture  might  be  enclosed 
either  by  the  lord  of  the  manor  or  by  certain  villagers;  the 
open  fields,  or  portions  of  them,  might  be  divided  among  the 
existing  owners  in  solid  blocks  instead  of  scattered  strips. 
The  variety  of  forms  of  enclosure  constitutes  one  of  the 
difficulties  in  tracing  the  history  of  these  changes.  The 
transformation  ultimately  involved  a  complete  abandonment 
of  the  old  agricultural  technique,  but  the  change  was  not 


226  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sudden  even  in  particular  localities.  The  earlier  enclosures 
were  partial;  they  included  portions  of  improved  waste,  lands 
belonging  to  the  demesne  farm,  parts  of  the  open  fields. 
Considerable  enclosure  was  possible  without  change  in  the 
general  arrangements  of  village  agriculture,  and,  as  the  initia- 
tive was  taken  by  lords  of  manors  and  the  richer  landowners, 
the  life  of  the  village  as  a  whole  was  not  seriously  affected 
until  the  movement  was  far  advanced. 

The  purposes  of  enclosure  were  economic:  the  new  field 

arrangements  made  it  possible  for  the  proprietors  to  adopt 

better  methods  of  agriculture.     More  diversity 

Purposes  .  ,   .  .  ...  ". 

in  cropping  and  in  rotations  was  possible,  and 
ultimately  a  new  combination  of  arable  agriculture  with 
grazing  was  developed.  This  system  of  agriculture  is  usu- 
ally called  the  "Midland  System,"  as  it  is  particularly 
suited  to  the  types  of  soil  that  prevail  throughout  the  Mid- 
lands. There  is  thus  a  rough  correspondence  between  the 
area  that  is  most  appropriate  to  this  mode  of  culture  and 
the  area  that  was  characterized  by  the  open  fields. 

The  land  will  hold  a  crop  of  artificial  grass  for  six  or  seven 
years  without  notable  deterioration,  so  that  it  is  possible  to 
The  "Mid-  pursue  a  system  of  culture  in  which  there  is  an 
land  system"  alternation  between  arable  and  grass.  The  farm 
would  be  divided  into  portions  of  approximately  equal  size; 
six  or  seven  of  these  fields  would  always  lie  under  grass,  three 
fields  would  lie  under  cereal  crops.  In  the  spring  the  field 
that  had  lain  longest  under  grass  would  be  ploughed  and 
planted  with  oats,  the  field  that  had  grown  oats  the  previous 
year  would  be  ploughed  two  or  three  times  and  planted  with 
wheat,  and  the  field  that  had  borne  its  crop  of  wheat  would 
be  ploughed  in  the  fall  after  the  harvest  and  seeded  with 
barley  and  grass  in  the  spring.  The  grass  in  the  fields  lying 
under  grass  was  applied  to  the  grazing  of  dairy  cattle,  with 
some  cows  and  sheep  being  fattened  for  slaughter.  "All 
together,"  says  Marshall,  "  a  beautifully  simple  system  of 
management,  and,  being  prosecuted  on  large  farms,  and  by 
wealthy  and  spirited  farmers,  becomes  a  singularly  interest- 
ing subject  of  study." 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    227 

It  will  readily  be  seen  that  such  a  system  of  fanning  must 
needs  be  carried  on  with  relatively  large  farms.  There  must 
be  a  constant  proportion  between  the  amount  of  . 

Size  of  farms 

land  under  grass  and  under  arable  crops:  assum- 
ing a  six-year  period  under  grass,  the  farm  must  consist  of  not 
less  than  nine  units,  one  third  being  constantly  under  cereals. 
The  ultimate  size  of  the  profitable  farm  was  determined 
jointly  by  considerations  of  economy  in  arable  agriculture  and 
in  dairying.  There  were  many  local  variations  because  of  dif- 
ferences in  soil  or  differences  in  the  correlation  between  grazing 
and  cereal  culture.  Experience  with  this  system  resulted,  how- 
ever, in  the  establishment  of  farms  varying  in  size  between  two 
and  three  hundred  acres.  The  virgate  holding  of  the  yeoman 
or  villein  consisted  of  thirty  acres  on  the  average,  and  it  is 
customary  to  think  of  this  as  the  small  holding,  the  twenty  or 
thirty-odd  acres  that  are  needed  to  maintain  a  single  family. 
The  type  of  farm  that  was  established  by  the  enclosure 
movement  was  thus  relatively  large,  and  farming  became 
"  capitalistic";  much  of  the  product  was  raised  for  a  market. 
The  change  in  the  type  of  farm  had  certain  social  conse- 
quences. Yeomen  farming  declined.  The  farmer  became 
more  largely  an  employer  of  labor;  he  and  his  family  still 
shared  the  work  of  the  farm,  but  they  were  assisted  by  hired 
laborers  who  were  likely  for  the  most  part  to  remain  in  that 
position.  The  increase  in  the  size  of  the  profitable  farm 
made  it  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  hired  laborer  to  ac- 
quire sufficient  means  to  become  the  owner  or  lessee  of  a 
farm;  the  demarcation  between  classes  of  society  The  break  in 
in  the  village  thus  became  more  nearly  per-  the  social  ladder 
manent  and  what  is  called  the  social  ladder  was  broken. 
The  social  aspects  of  these  different  systems  of  rural  life  have 
received  much  attention.  It  is  frequently  asserted  that  it  is 
peculiarly  desirable  to  have  a  large  class  of  peasant  pro- 
prietors, who  work  their  own  farm  without  more  than  casual 
hired  labor.  This  may  be  true  from  a  purely  social  point 
of  view  and  if  the  discussion  were  confined  to  merely  social 
arrangements  the  advocates  of  peasant  proprietors  would 
have  a  very  strong  case. 


228  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

s 

The  agrarian  problems,  however,  present  many  other  con- 
siderations. The  profitable  size  of  farm  must  needs  be  de- 
termined by  the  predominant  mode  of  culture,  and  the  most 
appropriate  mode  of  culture  changes  with  variations  in  the 
complex  of  economic  conditions  that  can  be  briefly  called  the 
conditions  of  marketing.  Increase  of  population,  improve- 
ments in  transportation,  changes  hi  crops,  better  knowledge 
of  agriculture  and  of  the  relation  of  various  methods  to  dif- 
ferences hi  soil  —  all  these  changes  will  inevitably  produce 
changes  in  methods  of  culture  and  corresponding  changes  in 
the  size  of  farms.  Growth  of  scientific  knowledge  of  agri- 
culture points  clearly  to  the  conclusion  that 

No  ideal  system  .  . 

there  is  no  ideal  system.  The  best  system  is 
that  one  most  carefully  adjusted  to  all  the  circumstances  of 
soil  and  market. 

The  development  of  agriculture  is  thus  likely  to  bring 
more  diversity  of  method,  and,  even  hi  the  middle  ages,  there 
was  more  diversity  than  was  formerly  supposed.  The  open- 
field  arrangements  were  capable  of  many  diversities,  though 
the  changes  were  not  great  enough  to  lead  to  significant  differ- 
ences hi  the  size  of  the  average  holding.  From  the  purely 
agrarian  point  of  view  there  can  be  no  presumption  in  favor 
of  the  small  holdings  of  peasant  proprietors.  Under  some 
conditions  small  farms  are  best,  under  different  conditions, 
large  farms  are  best.  One  may  therefore  doubt  the  expedi- 
ency of  any  social  arrangement  that  would  require  the  adop- 
tion of  methods  of  agriculture  that  were  economically  un- 
profitable, and  it  is  certainly  unsound  to  criticize  the  general 
character  of  a  change  that  resulted  hi  a  more  intelligent  adap- 
tation of  culture  to  differences  hi  soils  and  market  conditions. 

The  change  in  the  methods  of  farming  was  both  a  cause 
and  a  result  of  the  enclosure  movement.  It  was  the  purpose 
Transfers  of  of  enclosure,  but  the  purpose  could  not  be  ac- 
property  rights  C0mplished  until  the  open  fields  had  been  en- 
closed. The  change  in  the  size  of  farms  preceded  or  followed 
enclosure,  but  the  transfers  of  property  were  not  directly  a 
result,  except  hi  certain  cases  to  be  mentioned  presently. 
The  actual  enclosure  award  was  designed  to  give  each  owner 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    229 

precisely  the  same  amount  of  land,  or  at  least  land  of  equiva- 
lent value;  in  so  far  as  enclosure  led  to  concentration  of  land- 
holding  the  small  proprietors  must  needs  be  bought  out 
before  or  after  the  award.  No  generalization  can  be  sug- 
gested. In  the  early  period,  however,  there  is  reason  to  sup- 
pose that  the  large  proprietors  gave  much  earnest  attention 
to  the  purchase  of  land  with  a  view  to  subsequent  enclosure. 
Parcels  of  land  adjoining  their  own  would  be  bought  at 
every  opportunity,  and  at  times  pressure  was  brought  to 
bear  to  induce  owners  to  sell.  In  the  period  of  enclosure  by 
act  of  Parliament  it  would  seem  that  there  was  less  attempt 
to  buy  land  prior  to  enclosure.  Much  land  changed  hands 
immediately  after  the  enclosure  awards,  and  this  feature  of 
the  later  movement  was  undoubtedly  unfortunate.  Land 
was  sold  not  so  much  because  the  owner  really  wanted  to  sell, 
but  because  the  details  of  the  award  left  him  land  that  he 
was  not  in  a  position  to  utilize  effectively.  A  different  policy 
in  the  details  of  the  awards  might  well  have  diminished  the 
extent  of  these  transfers.  But  with  all  due  allowance  for  the 
unfortunate  results  of  the  policy  adopted,  one  must  presume 
that  the  larger  mass  of  transfers  of  property  causes  of 
were  the  outcome  of  genuine  economic  causes,  transfers 
a  result  of  an  undoubted  decline  in  the  profits  of  yeoman 
farming  that  began  at  least  as  early  as  the  seventeenth 
century. 

Until  the  last  few  years  it  was  customary  to  divide  the 
enclosure  movement  into  two  fairly  distinct  portions  sepa- 
rated by  an  interval  of  at  least  a  century.  It  was  continuity  of 
presumed  that  the  movement  which  attracted  enclosure 
so  much  attention  at  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century 
came  to  an  end  toward  the  close  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  and 
that  there  was  little  enclosure  during  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury. A  second  period  of  enclosure  was  notable  after  the 
middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  when  enclosure  by  act  of 
Parliament  became  common.  It  is  becoming  clear  that  the 
movement  continued  without  any  great  diminution  in  in- 
tensity throughout  the  seventeenth  century.  For  reasons 
which  we  do  not  yet  understand,  the  evidence  of  these  en- 


230  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

closures  is  scanty,  but  the  extent  of  the  movement  is  no 
longer  subject  to  serious  doubt  despite  the  difficulty  of  exact 
statistical  statement.  Apparently  these  enclosures  were  done 
privately  after  purchase  of  titles,  so  that  little  record  has 
been  left,  no  record  comparable  to  those  created  by  the  proc- 
ess of  enclosure  by  act  of  Parliament,  and  no  records  similar 
to  the  results  of  the  inquiries  of  the  early  sixteenth  century. 
There  was  little  public  criticism  of  enclosure  during  the 
seventeenth  century  and  the  movement  thus  dropped  out  of 
sight. 

Despite  the  vigorous  criticism  that  was  directed  against 
enclosure  in  the  sixteenth  century,  there  is  no  ground  for  pre- 
Progress  of  suming  that  the  actual  extent  of  enclosure  was 
enclosing  large.  Professor  Gay  says  that  not  more  than 
nine  per  cent  of  the  total  area  was  enclosed  in  any  one  county. 
The  average  for  the  midlands  was  about  five  per  cent.  The 
criticisms  of  contemporaries  were  justified  in  many  respects, 
but  it  would  be  a  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  social  problems 
of  enclosure  involved  at  that  time  any  large  area  of  land  in 
any  single  portion  of  England.  The  extent  of  enclosure  be- 
tween 1600  and  1750  is  problematical,  but  very  detailed 
studies  of  the  land-tax  assessments  for  the  County  of  Oxford 
present  results  which  are  probably  characteristic.  The 
county  is  fairly  representative  for  the  midlands  generally. 
In  this  county,  37  per  cent  of  the  arable  area  was  enclosed 
ultimately  by  act  of  Parliament;  53.6  per  cent  was  enclosed 
prior  to  1758.  With  an  allowance  of  9  per  cent  for  enclosures 
prior  to  1600  more  than  40  per  cent  of  the  arable  area  would 
be  left  unaccounted  for  except  by  enclosures  between  1600 
and  1758.  In  Oxfordshire,  at  least,  it  is  safe  to  say  that  as 
much  land  was  enclosed  between  1600  and  1758  as  subse- 
quent to  1758. 

The  period  that  intervened  between  the  early  movement 
and  the  parliamentary  enclosure  was  thus  characterized  by 
Early  encios-  an  amount  of  enclosing  that  bears  significant 
ures  partial  comparison  with  the  later  movement.  But  less 
than  one  third  of  the  townships  of  the  county  were  entirely 
enclosed  in  1758.  In  this  period  as  hi  the  sixteenth  century 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    231 

the  operations  were  carried  out  by  lords  of  manors  or  by 
various  proprietors  who  were  able  to  reach  a  private  agree- 
ment for  the  division  of  lands  which  had  come  into  their 
hands.  These  operations  thus  resulted  in  a  considerable 
amount  of  enclosure  without  destroying  entirely  the  open 
fields  and  commons.  The  effect  of  such  enterprises  was  thus 
less  serious  upon  society  as  a  whole.  The  lands  of  the  larger 
proprietors  were  separated  from  the  lands  of  the  small  pro- 
prietors, but  this  would  not  interfere  in  any  way  with  the 
methods  of  agriculture  and  mode  of  living  followed  by  the 
small  proprietors  of  the  village.  The  more  important  social 
consequences  of  enclosure  would  be  confined  to  the  compre- 
hensive enclosure  of  all  the  lands  of  the  village.  It  is  this 
feature  of  the  enclosures  brought  about  by  act  of  Parliament 
that  gives  the  movement  such  special  importance  in  the  period 
subsequent  to  1750.  The  private  acts  passed  between  1750 
and  1845  resulted  in  the  enclosure  of  nearly  Destruction  of 
all  the  open  fields  then  remaining  in  England.  *•  open  fields 
These  statutes  completed  the  rearrangement  of  the  field 
systems  that  had  been  begun  in  the  closing  years  of  the 
fifteenth  century. 

The  special  importance  of  enclosure  in  the  midlands  seems 
to  warrant  the  special  emphasis  that  has  been  placed  upon 
the  system  of  culture  practiced  there.  But  it  should  be 
recognized  that  all  the  new  systems  of  agriculture  were  de- 
veloped by  practical  experience  so  that  there  is  a  certain 
exaggeration  in  the  implication  that  the  desire  to  pursue 
particular  methods  was  the  consciously  felt  purpose  behind 
the  enclosing  activities  of  the  earlier  period.  In  the  late 
fifteenth  century  the  enclosed  land  was  pri-  Pasture  and 
marily  devoted  to  sheep  pasture;  Professor  Gay  arable 
believes  that  as  much  as  eighty  or  ninety  per  cent  was  de- 
voted to  pasture.  Twenty  years  later  much  more  land  was 
devoted  to  arable  agriculture. 

The  detailed  history  of  the  movement  at  this  period  is 
obscure,  but  it  would  seem  that  these  changes  indicate  much 
uncertainty  of  purpose.  It  may  be  that  the  midland  system 
was  a  compromise  between  the  desire  to  secure  the  grazing 


232  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

land  that  was  particularly  profitable  for  sheep-raising  and 
the  necessity  of  having  enough  grain  to  maintain  the  popula- 
tion. The  dearths  that  were  a  feature  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury may  well  have  been  a  result  of  a  disproportion  in  the 
amounts  of  land  devoted  respectively  to  pasture  and  tillage. 
New  systems  The  correlation  of  these  two  purposes  of  Eng- 
estab-  Ush  agriculture  was  accomplished  in  part  by  the 


midland  system  and  in  part  by  the  introduction 
of  the  root  crops.  These  new  crops  took  their  place  in  the 
rotation  systems  that  developed  and  afforded  additional 
facilities  for  the  rearing  of  stock  that  were  of  great  moment. 
The  new  agriculture  thus  provided  for  some  measure  of  com- 
bination of  arable  agriculture  and  stock-raising,  but  the 
result  was  achieved  only  by  much  experimentation  with  no 
higher  ideal  in  view  than  the  maximum  net  revenue  from  the 
land. 

II 

The  simplest  form  of  enclosure  was  what  is  termed  enclos- 
ure of  "  waste";  "waste"  land  was  unimproved  land,  usually 
„  „  woodland  or  marsh.  Such  land  was  used  hi  a 
degree  for  pasture  of  swine,  especially  beech 
forest,  and  the  villagers  had  certain  rights  in  the  use  of 
woods  with  reference  to  collecting  fallen  branches  or  the  cut- 
ting  of  small  firewood.  The  lord  of  the  manor  was  thus  under 
obligations  to  the  peasantry,  and,  though  he  was  in  a  measure 
possessor  of  such  "  waste"  land,  he  could  not  do  what  he 
chose  with  it.  His  action  was  restricted  by  the  rights  of  the 
villagers  and  he  was  not  allowed  to  improve  such  land  for  his 
own  benefit  if  the  pasturage  of  the  peasantry  would  be  un- 
duly curtailed.  Subject  to  this  qualification  the  lord  of  the 
manor  might  enclose  such  waste  as  he  chose. 

Land  that  had  become  a  part  of  the  general  possessions  of 
the  village,  whether  as  open  arable  fields  or  as  common  pas- 
Rights  of  ture,  might  not  be  enclosed  without  the  con- 
common  gent  Of  an  the  owners.  Obviously  the  collective 

owners  must  be  deemed  to  have  a  right  to  rearrange  their 
holdings.  They  would  have  the  right  to  choose  between  an 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    233 

arrangement  in  scattered  strips  and  a  similar  amount  of  land 
in  solid  blocks.  The  open  fields  were  subject  to  certain  graz- 
ing rights  in  the  fall  after  the  harvest,  but  it  must  needs  be 
within  the  power  of  the  collective  owners  to  renounce  these 
grazing  rights  over  each  other's  land.  It  was  usually  pre- 
sumed that  the  villagers  would  have  cattle  in  proportion  to 
the  extent  of  their  holdings,  so  that  the  larger  proprietors 
would  have  relatively  more  cattle.  This  was  not  the  case. 
The  poorer  villagers  had  a  disproportionate  number  of  cattle, 
and  they  would  thus  lose  more  by  the  renunciation  of  grazing 
rights.  For  this  cause  as  for  others  it  was  usually  difficult 
to  bring  the  smaller  proprietors  to  any  agreement  for  the 
enclosing  of  lands. 

Enclosure  by  agreement  was  usually  the  result  of  a  deal 
between  the  larger  proprietors  of  the  village.  If  by  the 
natural  course  of  events  the  strips  in  a  given  Enclosure  by 
field  came  into  the  hands  of  the  lord  of  the  *&***** 
manor  and  one  or  two  of  the  wealthier  villagers,  they  could 
agree  to  rearrange  then-  holdings  so  that  each  would  have 
contiguous  strips,  and,  as  the  land  was  no  longer  subject  to 
redistribution,  there  was  then  no  obstacle  to  the  enclosure  of 
the  respective  portions  of  land.  It  can  be  readily  imagined 
that  events  were  not  always  allowed  to  follow  their  natural 
course.  If  some  one  or  two  recalcitrant  small  proprietors 
still  had  strips  in  this  field  that  was  the  subject  of  interest 
to  the  lord  of  the  manor,  it  was  quite  possible  that  various 
kinds  of  pressure  might  be  brought  to  bear  to  induce  them  to 
sell.  "A  steward,"  writes  a  contemporary  (Edward  Law- 
rence, Duty  of  a  Steward  to  his  Lord) 

should  not  forget  to  make  the  best  enquiry  into  the  disposition  of 
any  freeholders  within  or  near  any  of  his  lordship's  Manors  to  sell 
their  lands,  that  he  may  use  his  best  endeavors  to  pur- 
chase  them  at  as  reasonable  price  as  may  be  for  his 
Lord's  advantage.  .  .  .  Especially  in  such  manors  where  improve- 
ments are  to  be  made  by  enclosing  commons  and  common  fields. 
If  the  freeholders  cannot  all  be  persuaded  to  sell,  yet  at  least  an 
agreement  for  enclosing  should  be  pushed  forward  by  the  steward. 
The  steward  should  endeavor  to  lay  all  the  small  farms,  let  to  the 
poor,  indigent  people,  to  the  great  ones.    But  it  is  unwise  to  unite 


234  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

farms  all  at  once  on  account  of  the  odium  and  the  increase  of  the 
poor  rates.  It  is  more  reasonable  and  popular  to  stay  until  such 
farms  fall  in  by  death.  To  facilitate  this,  noblemen  and  gentle- 
men should  endeavor  to  convert  copyhold  for  lives  to  leasehold  for 
lives.1 

The  recommendations  of  this  handbook  for  stewards  are  in 
no  respect  unseemly,  involve  no  downright  injustice  to  the 
peasantry,  though  they  clearly  favored  the  ungenerous  policy 
of  changing  the  more  secure  to  less  secure  tenures. 

The  opportunities  for  the  abuse  of  power  were  large;  pres- 
sure could  be  exerted  upon  tenants  who  held  land  under  the 
more  precarious  tenures,  a  peasant's  substance 

Abuse  of  power  r  ji     j    t/      i  •,  i 

could  be  jeopardized  by  lawsuits,  and  many 
could  be  intimidated  by  threats  of  lawsuits.  Misfortunes 
could  be  utilized  to  the  lord's  advantage.  These  practices 
could  hardly  be  carried  out  on  any  great  scale  in  a  particular 
locality,  but  a  peasant  who  was  the  unfortunate  possessor  of 
land  that  was  strategically  situated  with  reference  to  his  lord's 
farm  might  well  find  himself  in  a  thoroughly  unpleasant  posi- 
tion. Large  acts  of  injustice  to  a  class  could  hardly  be  done 
in  such  a  complex  manner,  but  many  acts  of  individual  in- 
justice were  undoubtedly  committed. 

The  method  of  accomplishing  these  earlier  enclosures  was 
thus  likely  to  confine  them  to  portions  of  the  village  lands. 
Precedents  in  Unanimous  consent  is  difficult  to  obtain  if  any 
Parliament  considerable  number  of  persons  are  concerned. 
The  possibility  of  a  more  expeditious  procedure  was  not  at 
first  perceived.  In  1606-07  an  act  of  Parliament  was  passed 
providing  for  the  enclosure  of  waste  in  certain  manors  of 
Herefordshire.  The  act  was  carefully  restricted  and  seems 
to  have  been  associated  with  special  circumstances  which 
prevented  its  being  drawn  in  consequence  as  a  precedent. 
An  act  of  1664  provided  for  the  enclosure  of  portions  of  the 
Forest  of  Dean  and  parts  of  the  New  Forest,  but  this  again 
seemed  to  present  a  special  case.  In  the  reign  of  Anne  there 
were  two  enclosure  acts,  in  1709  and  1713,  both  providing  for 
the  parting  and  enclosing  of  common  fields.  These  acts  may 

1  Slater,  G. :  English  Peasantry  and  the  Enclosure  of  the  Common  Fields,  153. 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    235 

thus  be  regarded  as  the  beginning  of  the  use  of  the  act  of 
Parliament  as  a  means  of  carrying  out  a  project  for  enclosure. 
Sixteen  acts  were  passed  hi  the  reign  of  George  I,  and  two 
hundred  and  twenty-six  in  the  folio  whig  reign.  The  prece- 
dent was  thus  rapidly  established  hi  the  early  eighteenth 
century  and  by  1750  this  device  was  bringing  the  open  fields 
to  an  end. 

The  act  of  Parliament  was  a  means  of  accomplishing 
enclosure  without  unanimous  consent.  The  rights  of  the 
minority  were  deemed  to  be  inconsistent  with  Theory  of  the 
the  general  interest  and  their  refusal  to  reach  enclosure  acts 
an  agreement  was  rendered  of  no  avail  by  the  vote  of  Parlia- 
ment that  public  welfare  would  be  best  served  by  the  enclos- 
ure. In  theory  there  can  scarcely  be  any  objection  to  the 
basis  of  the  enclosure  acts,  and  yet  it  was  a  theory  that  could 
be  abused.  Parliament  was  largely  in  the  hands  of  the 
landed  gentry  so  that  the  interests  of  the  various  classes  were 
not  likely  to  receive  impartial  and  disinterested  considera- 
tion. 

The  consent  of  the  owners  of  four  fifths  of  the  land  was 
required.  The  small  owners  were  thus  at  a  disadvantage 
because  they  were  voting  as  owners  rather  than  individuals, 
and  in  addition  to  this  they  were  subject  to  all  the  forms  of 
pressure  that  were  hi  the  power  of  the  lord.  The  enclosures 
of  the  period  were  the  work  of  the  large  proprietors.  They 
reached  a  tentative  agreement  among  them-  Actual 
selves,  chose  the  attorney,  and  thus  defined  the  Procedure 
general  character  of  the  project  before  they  even  called  a 
meeting  of  all  the  proprietors.  The  small  holders  had  lit- 
tle or  no  weight  in  determining  the  clauses  of  the  act.  One 
must  not  forget  the  sinister  influence  of  legal  expenses  to 
the  small  holder.  In  order  to  protect  the  property  rights 
of  all,  elaborate  legal  formalities  were  requisite.  The  ex- 
penses must  needs  be  borne  by  the  property  and  when  the 
amount  of  property  involved  was  small  the  legal  fees  might 
well  exhaust  the  major  part  of  the  estate.  Even  with  the 
best  of  intentions  it  would  have  been  difficult  to  do  full  jus- 
tice to  the  small  holders,  and  Parliament  was  not  organized 


236  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sufficiently  well  to  give  effect  to  any  clear  policy  on  these 
matters.  Each  act  was  a  separate  affair,  assigned  to  a  special 
committee  that  might  be  conscientious  or  corrupt.  Pro- 
cedure before  private  bill  committees  was  not  carefully 
standardized.  Members  were  irregular  in  attendance  and 
careless  in  voting.  The  protection  that  the  committee  was 
presumed  to  afford  the  persons  concerned,  the  guarantee  of 
fair  treatment,  was  not  made  effective.  The  poor  peasant 
proprietors  were  at  the  mercy  of  the  commissioners,  and 
indirectly  at  the  mercy  of  their  wealthy  neighbors. 

These  details  of  the  preparation  of  the  enclosure  acts  have 
received  little  attention  in  recent  tunes  and  received  even 
Abuses  in  less  attention  in  the  eighteenth  century.  %  A 
Parliament  speech  of  Lord  Thurlow  in  the  House  of  Lords 
is  therefore  of  great  significance.  The  speech  is  given  in 
indirect  discourse  in  the  Parliamentary  History  as  follows: 

His  Lordship  next  turned  his  attention  to  the  mode  in  which 
private  bills  were  permitted  to  make  their  way  through  both 
houses,  and  that  in  matters  where  property  was  concerned,  to  the 
great  injury  of  many,  if  not  the  total  ruin  of  some  private  families: 
many  proofs  of  this  evil  had  come  to  his  knowledge  as  a  member 
of  the  other  house,  and  not  a  few  in  his  professional  career.  He 
did  not  recollect  the  twentieth  part  of  them,  but  he  could  not  for- 
bear mentioning  a  few.  Through  his  profession  he  had  learned  that 
there  was  a  family  of  the  name  of  Gardiner,  in  Wales,  which  had 
been  stripped  of  its  whole  property  by  the  compendious  and  certain 
operation  of  a  private  bill  (enclosure).  This  surely  must  have  pro- 
ceeded from  a  criminal  inattention.  He  believed  he  might  point 
to  one  source  of  the  evil,  he  meant  the  facility,  or  rather  rapidity, 
with  which  private  bills  were  hurried  through  Committees  of  the 
other  House,  where  it  was  not  infrequent  to  decide  upon  the  merits 
of  a  bill  which  would  affect  the  property  and  interests  of  persons  in- 
habiting a  district  of  several  miles  in  extent,  in  less  time  than  it 
took  him  to  determine  the  propriety  of  issuing  an  order  for  a  few 
pounds.1 

This  speech  evoked  replies  from  various  members  of  the 
Lords,  but  the  utmost  extent  of  the  criticism  of  the  facts 
presented  was  the  general  declaration  that  serious  cases  of 

1  The  Parliamentary  History  of  England  from  the  earliest  period  to  the  year 
1803  (London,  1814),  xxn,  59. 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    237 

injustice  were  infrequent.  No  evidence  was  presented  to 
meet  the  main  charge  of  Lord  Thurlow,  that  procedure  in 
committee  was  scandalously  lax. 

The  opportunities  for  differences  of  opinion  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  proprietary  rights  were  very  great.  The  rights 
of  common  were  particularly  involved,  and  at  Problems 
tunes  there  might  be  serious  difficulty  in  the  oftitle 
proof  of  claims  to  arable.  The  proposal  to  enclose  made  it 
essential  to  discover  the  precise  nature  of  all  titles  to  real 
property,  and,  inasmuch  as  many  titles  were  defective,  the 
canvass  of  rights  hi  the  strict  sense  would  be  to  the  disad- 
vantage of  existing  holders.  These  discrepancies  between 
rights  enjoyed  and  rights  possessed  by  clear  title  were  most 
serious  with  reference  to  the  use  of  the  common  pastures. 
The  cottagers  had  long  been  accustomed  to  put  more  cattle 
out  to  pasture  than  they  were  strictly  entitled  to  send  out. 
The  wealthier  villagers  made  relatively  less  use  of  these  com- 
mons than  was  usual  in  the  period  in  which  the  strict  legal 
rights  were  defined.  Forage  crops  were  more  largely  used 
than  in.  the  early  period,  and  the  rich  usually  had  some  en- 
closed fields  which  they  were  able  to  use  exclusively.  To- 
ward the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century,  therefore,  there  had 
come  to  be  a  wide  divergence  between  the  rights  of  common 
and  the  use  of  the  commons.  Strict  insistence  upon  the  letter 
of  the  law  would  amount  to  substantial  dispossession  of  the 
poorer  members  of  the  village,  and  unfortunately  there  was 
a  disposition  to  adopt  the  narrowly  legal  interpretation  of  the 
rights  of  property  that  were  to  be  recognized  in  the  award. 

Apart  from  this  matter  of  determination  of  titles,  one  other 
aspect  of  enclosure  was  a  serious  menace  to  the  well-being 
of  the  poor.  It  was  not  essential  to  the  larger  purposes  of 
enclosure  that  the  common  fields  be  entirely  broken  up.  At 
least  portions  of  the  common  pastures  might  have  been  left 
unenclosed,  without  in  any  respect  defeating  the  objects  of 
enclosure.  It  was  not  necessary  to  assume  that  all  proprie- 
tary rights,  whatever  their  nature  or  extent,  , 

'    Grazing  rights 

must  be  converted  into  terms  of  arable  land. 

The  policy  adopted  was  on  the  whole  more  favorable  to  the 


238  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

wealthy,  but  it  is  not  clear  that  this  view  was  adopted  with 
any  deliberate  disregard  of  the  larger  problems  of  states- 
manship. 

The  general  mistakes  of  policy  were  probably  the  result  of 
indifference  rather  than  consciously  selfish  class  interest. 
The  growing  dislike  of  the  old  open-field  system  with  its  com- 
mons might  well  lead  to  the  disposition  to  do  away  with  the 
whole  tangle  of  rights.  Enclosure  was  regarded  as  a  great 
improvement  in  agricultural  method,  and,  as  the  common 
pastures  were  one  of  the  least  successful  features  of  the  sys- 
tem from  a  technical  point  of  view,  it  is  not  surprising  that  at 
the  outset,  scarcely  any  one  advocated  the  retention  of  com- 
mons, in  whole  or  in  part.  The  commons  afforded  scant 
forage  at  the  best;  they  were  merely  wild  pastures;  they  were 
frequently,  if  not  usually,  overcrowded,  so  that  no  beast 
could  secure  a  full  ration.  The  comparison  with  the  enclosed 
pastures  that  existed  were  wholly  to  the  disadvantage  of  the 
commons,  and  one  might  well  argue  that  the  interests  of  so- 
ciety required  that  the  land  should  be  utilized  hi  the  most 
effective  way. 

The  social  consequences  of  the  destruction  of  all  the  com- 
mons were  not  foreseen  in  any  large  manner.  It  was  well 
A  calamitous  understood  that  enclosure  might  result  in  an 
mistake  increase  in  the  poor-rates,  but  each  locality  was 

disposed  to  assume  that  this  situation  would  be  temporary. 
Those  who  were  dislodged  by  the  change  would  ultimately  be 
absorbed  in  other  occupations  or  other  regions.  In  a  measure 
this  was  true,  but  the  poorer  members  of  the  open-field  vil- 
lage suffered  a  real  social  displacement.  The  classes  that 
constituted  the  chief  source  of  supply  of  hired  labor  were  up- 
rooted from  the  soil  which  had  formerly  afforded  them  partial 
maintenance.  As  cottagers  or  squatters  with  a  small  garden 
and  a  cow,  these  people  were  not  wholly  dependent  upon 
their  wages  as  hired  laborers.  Continuous  employment  was 
not  essential.  The  enclosures  deprived  them  of  the  com- 
mons and  thus  made  it  impossible  for  them  to  keep  a  cow. 
The  expense  of  enclosure  was  likely  to  consume  the  greater 
part  of  the  garden,  even  if  it  had  been  possible  for  them  to 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    239 

prove  title.  This  class  of  cottagers  thus  tended  to  become 
an  agricultural  "proletariat,"  entirely  dependent  upon 
wages,  and  so  poor  that  they  would  be  dependent  upon  con- 
tinuous employment. 

The  loss  of  all  rights  of  pasturage  was  particularly  serious. 
In  many  districts  it  became  practically  impossible  for  the 
poor  to  get  milk  even  if  they  had  the  means.  , 

Milk  or  tea 

The  only  dairy  herds  were  those  of  the  wealthy. 
The  profits  of  a  retail  distribution  of  milk  were  small,  and 
the  notion  of  doing  such  a  thing  relatively  new.  Many 
owners  of  herds  simply  refused  to  peddle  milk,  and  in  such 
communities  it  was  not  possible  to  buy  it.  By  force  of  cir- 
cumstances tea  became  the  staple  drink  of  the  poor;  even 
young  children  were  put  on  a  diet  of  tea.  The  effect  upon 
the  health  of  the  population  can  scarcely  be  imagined,  and 
these  unfortunate  results  of  enclosure  contributed  some  of  the 
darkest  features  of  a  period  that  must  be  regarded  as  pecul- 
iarly distressing  from  the  point  of  view  of  social  well-being. 
When  Parliamentary  enclosure  had  already  made  exten- 
sive inroads  upon  the  open  fields  and  commons,  a  few  writers 
called  attention  to  the  unfortunate  effects  that  Young's 
would  result  from  a  comprehensive  enclosure.  P™?08*1 
ArthujLXpung,  hi  a  pamphlet  of  1801,  advocated  the  reserva- 
tion of  sufficient  common  pasture  io  assure  pasturage  lor  the 
cattle  of  cottagers  and  squatters.  Such  land  or  right  of 
pasturage  was  to  be  inalienable,  a  definite  appurtenance  of 
the  cottage.  When  land  was  not  available  for  this  purpose  he 
recommended  that  it  be  leased  by  the  parish.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  these  problems  could  have  been  met  easily 
at  the  tune  of  enclosure  had  there  been  sufficient  foresight. 
In  a  few  cases  a  truly  enlightened  policy  was  actually  fol- 
lowed; but,  in  the  mam,  the  narrow  view  was  taken.  This 
was  probably  one  of  the  most  calamitous  errors  of  social 
policy  in  the  legislation  of  the  period;  more  unfortunate  even 
than  the  policy  adopted  toward  the  poor,  because  this  failure 
to  appreciate  the  position  of  the  cottagers  was  in  large  meas- 
ure responsible  for  the  great  increase  hi  poverty  that  marks 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  early  nineteenth 
century. 


240  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

X  III 

In  the  course  of  the  last  century  some  attempt  was  made 
to  correct  the  mistakes  made  in  the  enclosure  acts.  The 
pastures  could  not  easily  be  restored;  at  all  events  little 
attempt  appears  with  reference  to  the  establishment  of  small 
areas  of  common  pasture.  In  later  enclosure  acts  portions 
of  the  common  pastures  or  lands  have  been  reserved  for 
public  use,  but  parks  and  playgrounds  have  usually  been  the 
object  contemplated  in  these  reservations.  The  village  has 
become  an  annex  of  the  industrial  town  and  breathing-space 
for  humans  has  become  more  important  than  grazing-land. 
But  it  has  been  possible  to  get  the  farm  laborer  back  to  the 
land  by  giving  him  a  garden  plot  and  some  reasonable  hope 
of  securing  a  small  holding  if  he  should  desire  it. 

In  this  connection  it  is  necessary  to  recognize  that  there  is 
a  fundamental  distinction  between  the  " allotment"  or  garden 
Allotments  and  plot,  and  the  "  small  holding."  The  garden  is 
small  holdings  merely  supplementary  to  some  other  occupation, 
a  resource  for  the  hired  agricultural  laborer,  or  for  artisans 
and  shopkeepers.  The  small  holding  is  presumed  to  furnish 
occupation  and  maintenance  to  the  holder  and  his  family, 
and,  ordinarily,  all  the  work  of  the  holding  would  be  done  by 
them.  Allotments  are  therefore  relatively  small,  ranging 
from  one  quarter  of  an  acre  to  ten  acres.  The  smallest  allot- 
ments would  thus  be  mere  kitchen  gardens  barely  sufficient  to 
supply  the  green  vegetables  for  the  family,  and  not  requir- 
ing enough  work  to  more  than  fill  the  spare  hours  of  a  man 
pretty  steadily  employed.  The  larger  plots,  ranging  be- 
tween five  and  ten  acres,  would  doubtless  be  the  main  oc- 
cupation of  the  holder,  other  work  being  subordinate  and 
casual.  Under  modern  conditions  such  a  holding  would 
probably  be  devoted  hi  part  to  raising  some  specialty  for 
the  market.  There  would  be  no  sharp  distinction  between 
the  allotment  and  the  small  holding  beyond  the  relative 
degree  of  dependence  or  independence  upon  other  employ- 
ment. In  the  best  market-gardening  districts  ten  acres,  or 
even  less,  might  well  occupy  a  man's  full  time;  in  other  re- 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    241 

gions,  a  much  larger  area  would  be  necessary  to  occupy  and 
maintain  the  family.  The  distinction  is  therefore  based 
upon  the  economic  results  of  operation  rather  than  upon  any 
mere  number  of  acres.  But  both  phases  of  this  back-to- the- 
land  movement  are  ultimately  related;  if  the  hired  man  has 
a  garden  he  has  some  opportunity  of  improving  his  position, 
gradually  increasing  the  size  of  his  plot  until  he  becomes 
practically  if  not  completely  independent  of  other  occupation. 

Allotments  were  so  closely  related  to  the  welfare  of  the 
agricultural  laborers  that  their  importance  was  recognized 
almost  as  soon  as  the  problem  was  created.  Early 
Some  of  the  landed  gentry  made  experiments  a"04™61*8 
with  allotments  on  their  estates.  These  private  philan- 
thropies began  at  least  as  early  as  1770.  The  motives  were 
in  part  selfish,  as  it  was  recognized  that  the  laborers  were  less 
likely  to  become  a  charge  upon  the  parish  if  they  had  this 
means  of  supplementing  their  wages.  At  the  same  tune  one 
must  regard  these  attempts  as  evidence  of  genuine  solicitude 
for  the  welfare  of  the  laboring  population,  and  as  an  indica- 
tion of  the  quality  of  statesmanship  displayed  by  the  leaders 
of  the  aristocracy.  In  1798  a  society  was  founded  for  "  Bet- 
tering the  Condition  and  Increasing  the  Comforts  of  the 
Poor57;  its  main  project  was  the  encouragement  of  this  allot- 
ment policy.  In  1806  some  provision  was  made  for  the  labor- 
ing poor  in  the  enclosure  act  for  Great  Somerford  (Wilts); 
and  in  the  period  following  the  Napoleonic  wars  Lord  Lans- 
downe  carried  out  a  project  on  certain  of  his  estates  at  Calne 
with  such  success  that  the  same  policy  was  greatly  extended 
on  his  properties.  Neighboring  landowners  followed  his 
example,  and  nearly  one  hundred  acres  were  devoted  to  such 
purposes  in  the  vicinity. 

The  Poor-Laws  of  1818  and  1831-32  empowered  parish 
authorities  to  enclose  waste  lands  and  let  them  to  the  poor  hi 
portions  of  not  less  than  one  rood  nor  more  than 

mi.  T>          T  t  100,1          JJ.T.      Public  activities 

one  acre.    The  new  Poor-Law  of  1834  and  the 
general  Enclosure  Act  of  1845  made  some  provision  for  such 
allotments,  but  the  chief  progress  was  the  result  of  private 
initiative.    These  acts  were  permissive  rather  than  compul- 


242  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sory  and  were  therefore  significant  in  those  districts  only  that 
were  dominated  by  well-intentioned  landlords.  During  the 
decade,  1830-40,  the  Laborer's  Friend  Society  was  active  in 
this  propaganda,  disseminating  information  and  urging  land- 
lords to  adopt  this  policy.  The  society  established  sev- 
enty-four hundred  allotments  on  its  own  responsibility;  usu- 
ally renting  the  land  and  subletting  to  the  laborers.  In  the 
period  between  1843  and  1868  there  was  a  great  extension 
of  allotments,  though  there  were  many  regions  in  which  the 
policy  made  no  real  headway. 

The  first  general  act  wholly  devoted  to  this  problem  was 
the  Statute  of  1882,  but  this  act  should  be  regarded  as  a  cul- 
Acts  of  1882  mination  of  the  movement  rather  than  the  be- 
and  1887  ginning  of  reform.  Hasbach  even  says  that  the 

problem  of  the  agricultural  laborer  was  largely  solved  in  the 
period  1830-80;  meaning,  no  doubt,  that  allotments  had 
become  the  rule  rather  than  the  exception.  The  statute  was 
necessary  to  meet  the  needs  of  districts  in  which  the  obsti- 
nacy of  particular  landlords  stood  in  the  way  of  adequate 
provision  for  the  needs  of  the  agricultural  laborers  and  arti- 
sans. The  Act  of  1882  was  for  this  reason  a  failure.  It  was 
merely  permissive,  and  the  movement  had  already  pro- 
gressed as  far  as  was  possible  under  a  permissive  policy. 
The  compulsory  The  compulsory  principle  was  introduced  in 
principle  1887;  landlords  were  required  to  sell  or  lease 

land  needed  for  these  purposes.  The  statute  marks  the  be- 
ginning of  a  new  phase  in  the  social  legislation  of  Great  Brit- 
ain. For  the  first  time,  members  of  the  aristocracy  were 
compelled  to  recognize  the  superiority  of  the  needs  of  the 
community  in  which  they  lived  over  their  vested  interests. 
Many  had  always  felt  these  higher  obligations,  but  it  was 
becoming  increasingly  clear  that  the  reorganization  of  Eng- 
land could  not  be  accomplished  by  the  spontaneous  activities 
of  the  best  elements  of  the  aristocracy.  The  principle  of 
compulsion  that  was  applied  to  this  small  problem  has  been 
gradually  applied  in  a  constantly  widening  field,  and  the  no- 
tion of  the  superior  claims  of  the  general  social  interest  has 
thus  become  embodied  in  much  important  legislation. 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    £43 

The  opponents  of  these  reforms  have  been  disposed  at 
tunes  to  declare  that  the  acts  were  unnecessary  because  the 
demand  for  allotments  does  not  seem  to  be  very  The  accom- 
great.  The  officials  charged  with  the  adminis-  PUshmeQt 
tration  of  the  acts  are  less  inclined  to  measure  the  importance 
of  the  acts  by  the  mere  quantity  of  land  affected.  In  the 
case  of  allotments,  particularly,  the  extent  of  the  movement 
subsequent  to  the  statute  is  no  real  index  of  the  need  of  the 
act.  It  is  fairly  evident  that  the  main  work  of  reform  had 
taken  place  prior  to  the  compulsory  statute;  its  work  was  the 
completion  of  a  reform  already  far  advanced.  The  Act  of 
1887,  too,  was  not  wholly  suited  to  the  needs  of  the  problem. 
The  procedure  was  complex  and  there  were  opportunities  for 
the  exertion  of  an  unfortunate  pressure  upon  the  laborers. 
Landlords  who  were  definitely  opposed  to  the  policy  could 
still  exert  a  repressive  influence  that  might  even  stifle  all 
appearance  of  demand  for  allotments  when  a  genuine  de- 
mand really  existed. 

The  small-holdings  movement  presents  a  more  complex 
problem  of  policy.  There  is  a  difficult  question  connected 
with  the  appropriate  size  of  the  profitable  unit  Need  for  small 
of  exploitation.  The  desirability  of  allotments  holdings  less 
was  undoubted;  the  expediency  of  the  small  hold- 
ing was  highly  questionable  until  the  beginnings  of  the  great 
changes  in  the  organization  of  English  agriculture  that  were 
the  result  of  foreign  competition.  After  1880  wheat-raising 
became  much  less  profitable  because  of  the  opening  of  the 
American  markets  and  the  greater  severity  of  competition 
with  southern  Russia.  The  large  farm  devoted  to  grazing  and 
wheat-raising  was  no  longer  the  best  unit  of  exploitation: 
crops  and  methods  must  needs  be  changed.  The  develop- 
ment of  highly  specialized  farming  and  of  market-gardening 
altered  the  economic  conditions  that  had  dominated  English 
agriculture  for  more  than  a  century:  the  small  holding,  that 
had  been  without  clear  advantage,  became  a  significant  pos- 
sibility on  many  types  of  soil.  The  small-holdings  problem  is 
thus  an  agrarian  rather  than  a  social  question.  Some  legal 
problems  are  involved,  because  there  was  not  enough  mobil- 


244  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ity  of  real  property  to  insure  freedom  of  competition  among 
the  different  uses,  but  it  is  a  mistake  to  approach  this  ques- 
tion as  if  it  were  primarily  a  matter  of  purely  social  expedi- 
ency. This  error  was  made  by  nearly  all  the  early  advocates 
of  small  holdings,  and  recent  literature  is  not  entirely  free 
from  these  inherited  mis  judgments  of  the  nature  of  the  ques- 
tion. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  there  are  grounds  for  supposing 
that  there  are  consequences  of  peasant  proprietorship  that 
Peasant  are  socially  desirable :  the  existence  of  a  consider- 

proprfetors  Q^[Q  number  of  cultivating  owners  to  constitute 
the  backbone  of  an  agrarian  middle  class  is  undoubtedly 
favorable  to  genuine  democracy.  The  yeoman  farmer  can 
rightly  be  regarded  as  one  of  the  bulwarks  of  English  free- 
dom. It  is  not  wholly  clear  that  the  beneficial  aspects  of  this 
situation  are  wholly  dependent  upon  ownership,  but  if  the 
profitable  unit  of  exploitation  were  small  there  would  doubt- 
less be  a  fair  proportion  of  owners.  The  terms  of  the  lease 
may  be  particularly  unfavorable  to  the  tenant,  and  equally 
unfavorable  to  the  best  interests  of  society;  the  two  defects 
are  likely  to  be  closely  identified.  Leases  may  discourage 
improvements  and  place  a  premium  upon  wasteful  and  un- 
intelligent culture,  but  these  difficulties  can  be  remedied  by 
altering  the  terms  of  the  lease. 

The  earlier  literature  of  the  small-holdings  movement, 
however,  insisted  upon  two  propositions :  that  the  small  hold- 
Program  of  the  ing  was  &  more  profitable  and  expedient  unit  of 
reformers  agricultural  exploitation,  and  that  there  was 
a  "magic  of  property"  which  would  make  the  slothful  dili- 
gent and  convert  barren  wastes  into  well-tilled  farms.  Even 
Arthur  Young  believed  that  the  consciousness  of  ownership 
would  call  forth  unusual  energies;  "Give  a  man  secure  pos- 
session of  a  bleak  rock,  and  he  will  convert  it  into  a  garden," 
he  was  wont  to  say.  But  the  better  thought  upon  agriculture 
at  the  present  time  would  not  support  these  views.  There 
may  be  some  advantages  of  ownership,  but  no  such  magic 
power,  and  it  is  clear  to-day  that  there  is  no  unit  of  exploita- 
tion that  is  intrinsically  better  than  any  other.  The  advan- 


ENCLOSURE  MOVEMENT  AND  LAND  REFORM    245 

tages  of  large  and  small  farms  are  purely  relative.  Such 
social  advantages  as  may  be  dependent  upon  the  existence 
of  small  farms  can  be  secured  only  under  economic  conditions 
that  favor  the  small  units,  and  in  actual  fact  the  tendencies 
vary  in  direction.  There  are  periods  of  transition  from 
smaller  to  larger,  and  from  larger  to  smaller  units.  Agrarian 
changes  are  not  tendencies  in  a  .single  direction,  as  seems 
to  be  the  case  hi  industry. 

The  complex  relations  of  this  propaganda  to  actual  prob- 
lems of  agricultural  technique  have  affected  the  history  of 
the  movement.  As  long  as  the  reform  was  without  signifi- 
cant relation  to  profitable  agriculture  the  agitation  bore  no 
fruit;  once  there  seemed  to  be  a  real  place  for  the  small  hold- 
ing some  legislative  provision  was  made  to  enable  people  to 
get  out  on  the  land.  The  present  achievements  are  the  out- 
come of  the  work  of  Jesse  Collings,  who  agitated  the  ques- 
tion in  Parliament  throughout  the  eighties.  In 

.  .  .  First  successes 

1889  he  brought  in  a  detailed  bill  which  was  re- 
ferred to  a  select  committee.  After  important  alterations 
had  been  made  hi  the  text,  this  bill  became  law  hi  1892. 
The  act  was  defective  in  two  respects :  it  contemplated  peas- 
ant proprietorship,  and  its  administrative  mechanism  was 
inadequate.  The  demand  for  holdings  comes  in  large  meas- 
ure from  persons  who  have  not  the  means  to  buy  the  land: 
at  present,  when  prospective  small  holders  may  buy  or  rent, 
barely  more  than  two  per  cent  actually  buy  outright.  Some 
who  may  buy  ultimately  do  not  purchase  the  holding  at  once. 
Events  have  thus  shown  that  the  emphasis  placed  upon  own- 
ership by  the  early  advocates  of  the  movement  had  no  real 
relation  to  the  needs  of  the  case.  The  machinery  of  the  act 
left  all  the  initiative  to  local  authorities,  who  might  refuse  to 
act  or  merely  allege  that  no  land  could  be  had  at  a  reason- 
able figure.  The  act  was  thus  of  no  avail  hi  districts  hi  which 
it  did  not  commend  itself  to  the  landowners  of  the  neighbor- 
hood, though  it  was  in  such  places  that  it  was  most  necessary. 
In  the  Act  of  1907  the  initiative  is  placed  with  the  central 
authority.  The  Board  of  Agriculture  appoints  two  or  more 
persons  to  be  Small-Holdings  Commissioners,  who  are  charged 


246  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

with  the  study  of  the  demand  for  small  holdings  in  the  sev- 
eral counties,  and  the  consideration  of  the  ex- 
tent to  which  such  demand  can  be  practically 
satisfied.  If  it  is  felt  desirable  to  proceed  in  any  district,  the 
County  Council  is  informed  and  requested  to  prepare  a  plan. 
In  case  nothing  is  done  within  a  specified  time,  a  scheme 
would  be  prepared  by  the.  commissioners.  The  plans  must 
be  approved  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  in  either  case.  It 
is  thus  possible  to  overcome  local  opposition.  Land  requisite 
under  such  a  plan  might  be  hired,  or  bought;  and,  in  event  of 
local  opposition,  land  might  be  acquired  by  compulsory 
process. 

It  is  still  too  early  to  appraise  the  results  of  this  act.  The 
commissioners  feel  that  there  is  a  bona-fide  demand  for  land, 
though  many  point  to  the  statistics  of  applications  as  evi- 
dence that  the  demand  is  trivial.  It  would  seem  that  much 
deference  is  still  shown  to  the  large  landholders,  so  that  there 
are  many  who  lack  courage  to  apply.  It  may  well  prove  to 
be  a  less  far-reaching  reform  than  was  anticipated  by  the 
earlier  advocates;  one  might  even  feel  some  certainty  on  this 
score,  and  yet  it  is  a  significant  reform,  both  on  its  own  ac- 
count and  as  part  of  the  general  reform  of  landholding  in 
Great  Britain. 


CHAPTER  X 

THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 

THE  great  transformation  of  industry  that  became  notice- 
able in  England  toward  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
was  characterized  by  Blanqui  in  1837  as  the  Bianqui's 
Industrial  Revolution  with  the  intention  of  characterization 
attributing  to  it  an  importance  coordinate  with  the  French 
Revolution.  "Industrial  conditions,"  says  Blanqui,  "were 
more  profoundly  transformed  than  at  any  tune  since  the 
beginnings  of  social  life."  It  is  evident  that  he  desired  to 
explain  the  difference  in  the  outlook  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury in  terms  of  these  two  revolutions;  the  Political  Revolu- 
tion in  France,  the  Industrial  Revolution  in  England,  each 
in  its  own  way  contributing  to  a  break  with  the  past  so  com- 
plete that  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  reconstruct  the  social  life  of 
the  old  regime.  Although  Bianqui's  conception  of  this  move- 
ment is  superficial  in  some  respects,  his  appreciation  of  its 
epoch-making  significance  is  just,  remarkable  even,  when  one 
considers  that  he  was  writing  while  the  transformation  was 
still  in  progress  and  before  some  of  the  very  characteristic 
features  of  the  change  had  revealed  themselves.  It  is  not 
possible  for  us  to-day  to  add  anything  material  to  his  state- 
ment. 

The  renaissance  of  urban  life  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth 
centuries  had  brought  about  a  great  industrial  transforma- 
tion. The  artisan  was  freed  economically  and  other  social 
politically.  The  division  of  labor  was  carried  transformations 
much  farther  than  it  had  been  carried  hi  the  ancient  world. 
Some  genuine  reciprocity  of  trade  between  the  towns  and 
the  rural  districts  had  sprung  up.  Differentiation  between 
employers  and  wage-earners  appeared  in  the  larger  indus- 
trial centers.  That  period  marks  the  beginning  of  a  new 
stage  in  industrial  history,  but  medieval  conditions  were 
after  all  similar  to  conditions  in  antiquity.  The  differences 
were  quantitative,  and  even  the  quantitative  differences 


248  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

were  not  great.     The  era  of  the  Industrial  Revolution 
brought  with  it  changes  that  are  more  nearly  changes  in  kind. 

We  are  thus  farther  removed  to-day  from  the  appreciation 
of  medieval  conditions  than  the  medieval  burgher  from  an 
involved  less  of  adequate  appreciation  of  Grseco-Roman  life, 
a  break  with  The  development  of  historical  study  has  doubt- 
less made  our  notions  of  the  past  more  accurate 
than  those  of  medieval  students.  Medieval  writing  seems 
to  us  to  lack  historical  perspective;  the  tendency  to  assume 
that  there  had  been  no  essential  change  seems  palpably 
absurd  to  us.  They  did  not  feel  the  Roman  past  as  some- 
thing distant.  It  was  as  direct  and  immediate  as  their  own 
experience,  and  so  when  Dante  quotes  Virgil  as  if  he  were  a 
contemporary,  it  is  possible  at  least  that  it  should  not  be 
interpreted  by  us  as  evidence  of  lack  of  historic  perspective, 
but  rather  as  an  indication  of  the  closeness  of  the  ties  that 
existed  between  the  Roman  and  the  medieval  world.  Both 
of  these  periods  seem  very  remote  to  us,  and  it  is  only  with 
deliberate  effort  that  we  can  reconstruct  their  life.  The 
.transformation  of  social  life  at  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  became  a  forbidding  obstacle  to  a  vital  understand- 
ing of  the  recent  past.  It  is  possible  that  the  nearness  of 
events  makes  it  difficult  to  see  things  in  their  true  perspec- 
tive, and  yet  it  does  seem  that  there  are  grounds  for  the  belief 
that  this  change  was  indeed  a  social  transformation  of  greater 
magnitude  than  any  of  the  industrial  and  economic  changes 
of  earlier  periods. 

Although  the  term  "Industrial  Revolution"  was  first  used 
in  France,  the  significance  of  the  change  was  noted  as  early 
Pessimism  in  England.  The  results  of  the  transformation 
of  Gaskeii  were  keeniy  appreciated  by  most  of  the  writers 
of  the  decade  of  the  thirties.  In  Gaskell,  particularly,  there 
is  clear  consciousness  that  the  old  industrial  regime  had 
passed  away  to  be  supplanted  by  a  new  order.  He  cannot 
believe  that  the  change  is  for  the  better.  The  gain  in  pro- 
ductive power  was  undoubted;  that  was  as  clear  to  him  as  to 
ithe  most  enthusiastic  admirers  of  machinery;  but  the  serious- 
ness of  the  new  social  problems  was  equally  clear  and  the 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  249 

resources  of  the  newly  reformed  Parliament  seemed  utterly 
inadequate  to  cope  with  the  social  reorganization  that  would 
be  necessary.  The  change  is  reflected  in  somewhat  higher 
coloring  in  Carlyle's  Past  and  Present,  and  there  is  a  similar 
drawing-back  from  what  seems  like  chaos  and  disorder,  from 
an  impending  plutocracy  that  seemed  worse  even  than  a 
well-ordered  aristocracy.  There  were,  of  course,  many  who 
looked  only  toward  the  conquest  of  nature  by  the  machines, 
but  the  magnitude  of  the  event  seems  really  to  be  more  com- 
pletely appreciated  by  those  who  felt  the  new  social  problems 
so  keenly  that  their  tone  is  pessimistic. 

Both  in  France  and  in  England  the  magnitude  of  the  event 
was  soon  perceived,  but  the  nature  of  the  transformation  was 
very  inadequately  understood  and  some  of  these  Misleading 
misunderstandings  are  closely  associated  with  connotations 
the  phrase  "Industrial  Revolution."  The  term  has  cap- 
tured the  imagination,  and  despite  misleading  connotations 
it  will  doubtless  hold  its  place  in  the  literature  of  the  sub- 
ject, but  interpretation  becomes  more  and  more  necessary. 
The  earlier  writers  were  so  powerfully  impressed  by  the  in- 
ventions in  the  textile  industries  and  the  development  of 
the  steam  engine  that  they  usually  referred  to  the  inven- 
tions as  the  prune  cause  of  the  great  changes.  The  great 
inventions  become  more  or  less  completely  identified  with  the 
Industrial  Revolution.  Blanqui  in  France,  and  Gaskell  in 
England,  both  thought  of  the  movement  primarily  in  terms 
of  the  great  inventions,  and  this  view  has  found  its  way  into 
many  secondary  books.  The  view  is  stated  in  its  usual  form 
by  Gibbins.  "The  change,"  he  says,  "...  was  sudden  and 
violent.  The  great  inventions  were  all  made  in  a  compara- 
tively short  space  of  time.  ...  In  a  little  more  than  twenty 
years  all  the  great  inventions  of  Watt,  Arkwright,  and  Boul- 
ton  had  been  completed,  steam  had  been  applied  to  the  new 
looms,  and  the  modern  factory  system  had  begun."  This 
conception  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  exhibits  all  the 
higher  forms  of  historical  inaccuracy.  The  movement  was 
not  sudden  and  violent :  the  inventions  were  an  effect  no  less 
than  a  cause:  and  the  enumeration  of  the  inventions  omits 


250  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

characteristically  tb&jnost  revolutionary  of  the  textile  jn- 
ventions  —  - 


Arnold  Toynbee  developed  another  conception  of  the 
movement  in  the  Lectures  on  the  Industrial  Revolution,  which 
Toynbee's  were  published  after  his  death.  Industrial 
conception  development  and  the  changes  in  commercial 
policy  were  both  carefully  described,  but  the  rise  of  the  lib- 
eral economic  thought  seems  to  have  had  the  chief  claim  on 
his  attention.  The  Industrial  Revolution  was  thus  con- 
ceived to  be  more  largely  a  change  hi  economic  thought  than 
hi  industrial  organization.  The  inventions  and  the  growth 
of  the  factory  system  were  made  incidental  to  the  new  out- 
look in  theory  and  in  commercial  policy.  Toynbee's  efforts 
must  command  much  sympathy,  for  they  unquestionably 
gave  wider  significance  to  the  movement,  but  it  is  unfortu- 
nate that  so  much  emphasis  was  placed  on  the  rise  of  the 
laissez-faire  theory.  The  events  of  the  last  quarter-century 
have  carried  us  all  so  far  from  the  older  notions  of  unre- 
strained individualism  that  few  of  us  would  care  to  represent 
the  "system  of  individual  freedom"  as  the  foremost  feature 
of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The  views  of  Toynbee  dom- 
inate Cunningham's  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Com- 
merce, but  such  problems  are  not  felicitously  handled  by 
Cunningham.  The  fine  judgment  shown  in  the  treatment  of 
problems  of  research  and  minute  scholarship  does  not  appear 
in  such  generalizations  as  find  their  way  into  the  text. 

The  view  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  that  has  occupied 
the  largest  place  in  recent  writing  seems  to  have  drawn  some 
Emphasis  upon  inspiration  at  least  from  the  writings  of  Karl 
capitalism  Marx.  This  view  is  in  a  measure  an  outgrowth 
of  the  earliest  interpretations  of  the  movement,  but,  instead 
of  stressing  the  mechanical  inventions,  emphasis  is  laid  upon 
the  factory  system  and  the  growth  of  capitalistic  organization 
of  industry.  This  characterization  of  the  movement  would 
be  wholly  adequate  if  the  older  generalizations  about  indus- 
trial development  were  sound.  If  it  were  true  that  there  was 
no  capitalistic  industry  in  the  earlier  periods;  if  workmen  had 
never,  or  even  hardly  ever,  been  collected  in  small  factories,  — 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  251 

these  characterizations  would  be  commandingly  significant. 
The  facts  are  otherwise.  There  was  a  steady  growth  toward 
capitalistic  industry  based  on  free  labor  throughout  the 
middle  ages,  and,  in  the  classical  period,  slavery  had  opened 
up  other  modes  of  capitalistic  domination.  The  capitalist 
became  more  important  at  the  tune  of  the  Industrial  Revo- 
lution, and  the  lines  between  the  employing  and  the  wage- 
earning  classes  were  more  sharply  drawn,  but  the  phenomena 
were  not  new.  Even  the  factory  was  not  new.  The  experi- 
ments of  the  Tudor  period  in  England  and  of  the  reign  of 
Louis  XIV  hi  France  had  not  been  successful  in  any  large 
sense,  but  they  showed  that  there  was  disposition  to  organize 
industry  in  that  manner.  What  was  new  toward  the  close  of 
the  eighteenth  century  was  not  the  factory,  but  the  condi- 
tions destined  to  make  the  factory  a  dominant  form  of  organi- 
zation. To  emphasize  the  factory  only  is  thus  to  leave  out 
the  most  notable  fact  of  the  situation. 

No  single  formula  can  adequately  describe  the  complexity 
of  forces  and  reactions  that  gave  the  movement  its  profound 
significance.  There  were  changes  in  the  rela-  Abroaderview 
tion  between  industry  and  agriculture,  readjust- 
ments in  the  textile  trades  brought  about  by  the  rise  of  the 
cotton  industry,  technical  developments  in  the  metal  indus- 
tries which  gave  the  whole  group  of  metal  trades  a  more 
important  place  in  industrial  society.  None  of  these  trans- 
formations were  sudden:  there  were  many  reciprocal  influ- 
ences, so  that  particular  inventions  were  at  once  cause  and 
effect.  The  development  of  a  mechanical  technique  was  of 
the  utmost  importance  hi  both  textile  and  metal  industries, 
but  the  older  writers  simplified  unduly  when  they  ascribed 
such  exclusive  importance  to  single  inventions.  It  is  well 
known  to-day  that  no  great  mechanical  achievement  is  the 
result  of  a  single  invention,  though  some  brilliant  conceptions 
will  frequently  direct  endeavor  so  fruitfully  into  certain 
channels  that  we  think  currently  hi  terms  of  the  controlling 
patent  or  invention.  Bub  every  CTea^acjjDjncJisjiment^  is^ 
really  the  achievement  of  a  group  of  inventors,  and  con- 
sists of  a  series  of  inventions.  In  the  period  of  the  Indus- 


252  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

trial  Revolution  mechanical  achievement  was  relatively 
slower  than  it  is  to-day.  The  struggle  of  inventors  was 
more  desperate,  and  relatively  less  fruitful  in  results.  It  is 
therefore  peculiarly  important  to  think  in  terms  of  pro- 
tracted mechanical  endeavor  when  studying  the  rise  of 
the  modern  mechanical  technique  of  the  textile  and  metal 
industries. 

The  inventive  efforts  of  the  period  were  stimulated  by 
commercial  changes  and  by  the  realization  of  the  importance 
of  mineral  deposits  whose  significance  had  been 
well-nigh  overlooked.  Commercial  changes 
were  relatively  more  important  in  creating  the  new  cotton 
industry:  the  iron  and  coal  deposits  were  the  direct  incentive 
to  the  fundamental  metallic  inventions.  In  seeking  so- 
called  primary  causes  for  the  Industrial  Revolution  one  may 
conceivably  choose  any  one  of  three :  the  mechanical  achieve- 
ment; the  commercial  changes;  or  physiographic  factors  that 
were  in  a  sense  the  basis  of  both  the  commercial  change  and 
the  development  of  the  mineral  industries.  It  is  wiser,  per- 
haps, to  abandon  the  search  for  a  single  cause,  recognizing 
that  the  interplay  of  factors  was  in  reality  essential.  The 
commercial  changes  that  underlay  the  industrial  transforma- 
tion were  not  specifically  associated  with  England;  they 
might  have  stimulated  industrial  development  in  France. 
The  intensity  and  importance  of  the  changes  in  England  were 
due  to  the  unusual  conjunction  of  factprs  making  for  change 
in  a  number  of  related  industries.  All  the  factors  favorable 
to  change  were  present  in  England,  and  the  conjunction  of 
factors  did  not  occur  in  any  other  country. 

The  development  of  trade  with  India  had  brought  to 
Europe  the  fine  cotton  fabrics  that  had  been  known  casually 
changes  in  the  to  the  ancient  world,  but  almost  entirely  un- 
textue  trades  known  to  the  middle  ages.  These  cottons  ap- 
pealed strongly  to  the  consuming  public  and  made  their  way 
rapidly.  The  woolen,  linen,  and  silk  industries  all  suffered 
from  the  competition  with  these  new  fabrics  and  attempts 
were  made  to  restrict  the  use  of  cottons  by  protective  legisla- 
tion. The  restriction  was  carried  farther  in  England  than 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  253 

on  the  Continent,  and,  though  some  measure  of  success  was 
obtained  at  first,  the  failure  was  the  more  complete  in  the 
end.  The  protective  barrier  erected  for  the  benefit  of  the 
woolen  industry  fostered  the  growth  of  a  domestic  cotton 
industry  which  found  an  element  of  advantage  in  the  climate 
of  which  no  one  had  been  aware.  The  cotton  industry  was 
thus  a  new  industry  in  every  sense,  and  because  it  was  new  it 
was  wholly  free  from  the  restrictive  influences  of  craft  cus- 
toms and  legislative  regulation.  It  was  free  to  adopt  any 
forms  of  organization  that  might  be  convenient  and  suitable. 
The  growth  of  the  cotton  industry  was  the  occasion  of  many 
changes  in  the  textile  trades:  changes  in  the  relative  impor- 
tance of  the  various  textile  products,  changes  hi  the  forms  of 
organization,  and  changes  in  the  technique  of  production. 

The  chajige^^themeJaJJadu^^es  were  largely  the  out- 
come of  the  attempt  to  use  coal  as  fuel.  The  forests  were 
"being  seriously  depleted  by  the  demand  for  The  metal 
charcoal,  and  early  in  the  seventeenth  century  *«*»««• 
it  was  clearly  recognized  that  the  iron  industries  must  needs 
decline  unless  other  fuel  were  found  and  made  available. 
There  was  coal  in  abundance.  At  some  of  the  iron  workings 
coal  was  bedded  with  the  iron  and  was  a  necessary  but  unim- 
portant by-product.  There  was  thus  a  strong  incentive  to 
use  coal.  The  early  experiments  of  Dudley  were  a  direct 
outcome  of  such  circumstances.  The  difficulties  were  great: 
mechanical  and  metallurgical.  Successful  utilization  of  coal 
would  be  possible  only  hi  an  entirely  transformed  iron  in- 
dustry; an  industry  with  much  more  mechanical  equipment 
and  more  exact  metallurgical  knowledge.  The  great  achieve- 
ments of  the  Industrial  Revolution  were  made  possible  by 
several  generations  of  patient  endeavor  in  the  metal  indus- 
tries, and  this  portion  of  the  story  of  the  movement  has  been 
least  adequately  treated  in  the  general  accounts.  There  has 
been  a  disposition  to  regard  these  matters  as  excessively 
technical  for  general  treatment  in  economic  history,  but  this 
transformation  of  the  metal  industry  is  of  fundamental  im- 
portance and  it  seems  unwise  to  omit  the  salient  features  of 
the  development. 


354  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

As  a  result  of  these  changes  the  metal  industries  became 
much  more  significant  than  they  had  been  for  centuries. 
The  new  posi-  ^e  f  ull  effects  of  the  change  have  appeared  only 
the  metal  in  the  last  half  of  the  nineteenth  century,  but 


they  are  undoubtedly  a  result  and  should  be 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  In  1700 
the  metal  industries  were  of  very  subordinate  importance  in 
all  European  countries.  The  textile  group  was  by  far  the 
most  significant  of  the  general  groups  now  utilized  hi  classi- 
fication, and  among  the  textiles  the  woolen  industries  (i.e., 
both  woolen  and  worsted)  were  far  in  the  lead.  The  cotton 
industry  was  of  subordinate  importance,  almost  negligible. 
The  leather  industries  were  probably  more  important  than 
metals  in  France  and  in  England,  and  though  in  Germany  the 
metals  were  in  all  probability  a  greater  factor  in  general  in- 
dustrial development  we  have  no  grounds  for  supposing  that 
metals  outranked  leather  even  in  Germany.  The  relative 
position  of  the  different  industries  in  1700  represents  the 
culmination  of  the  general  factors  in  industrial  development 
that  became  notable  in  the  twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries. 
Throughout  the  long  period  of  five  centuries  the  textile  in- 
dustries had  grown  in  importance  as  specialized  occupations. 
All  three  branches  of  the  old  textile  trades  had  shared  in  the 
prosperity,  though  in  many  ways  the  woolen  industry  had 
undergone  the  most  considerable  transformation.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  silk  industry  was,  however,  a  notable  fea- 
ture of  economic  growth  in  Italy  and  France;  comparable  in 
magnitude  and  character  of  technical  advance  to  the  develop- 
ment of  the  woolen  industries  in  northern  France,  Flanders, 
and  England.  The  Industrial  Revolution  brought  a  twofold 
dislocation:  the  rise  of  the  new  cotton  industry  resulted  in 
the  subordination  of  all  the  other  branches  of  the  textile  man- 
ufacture to  cottons  —  cotton  was  king;  the  reorganization  of 
the  metal  trades  gave  them  an  entirely  new  place  in  the  social 
order,  raising  them  from  a  relatively  low  rank  to  substantially 
coordinate  importance  with  the  textile  trades.  The  changes 
in  the  textile  trades  took  place  very  early  in  the  course  of 
the  general  movement,  the  rise  of  the  metal  trades  to  their 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  255 

new  position  took  place  only  in  the  latter  half  of  the  nine- 
teenth century. 

Statistical  evidence  of  these  occupational  changes  is  natu- 
rally difficult  to  secure.  Attention  has  already  been  called 
to  the  absence  of  a  sharp  distinction  between  the  statistical 
industrial  and  the  agricultural  population,  and  difficulties 
for  that  reason  alone  no  complete  comparison  could  be  in- 
stituted. Furthermore,  there  are  no  enumerations  of  popu- 
lation for  the  period  prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolution. 
Statistical  demonstration  is  thus  confined  to  the  comparative 
method,  a  means  of  reaching  judgments  that  is  somewhat 
unsatisfactory  and  subject  to  many  elements  of  error,  but 
nevertheless  a  more  adequate  basis  for  opinion  than  mere 
guess-work.  Occupational  statistics  are  available  for  Great 
Britain  quite  early  hi  the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  clas- 
sifications in  the  earlier  decades  are  not  satisfactory  and 
the  enumerations  were  not  very  accurate.  The  figures  for 
1851  are  the  earliest  figures  that  are  thoroughly 

•i    r_i         mi  •          e^  i    ^        u    j    England  in  1851 

available.  The  grouping  of  the  population  had 
been  affected  by  the  Industrial  Revolution  at  that  tune. 
The  new  cotton  industry  was  well  established  and  some  of  the 
newer  occupations  in  the  metal  trades  were  beginning  to  be 
important,  but  it  is  possible  that  the  relative  position  of 
textiles  and  metals  had  not  been  greatly  changed  at  that 
time,  though  it  is  certain  that  metals  were  a  more  important 
group  then  than  they  had  been  for  two  centuries  or  more. 

The  figures  for  Prussia  in  1855  are  perhaps  more  character- 
istic of  the  groupings  of  the  people  prior  to  the  Industrial 
Revolution.  At  that  time  scarce  any  great  _ 

,  ,      ,  ,    ,  .     ~  j.7.  Prussia  in  1855 

changes  had  taken  place  in  Germany,  conditions 
were  not  very  different  from  what  they  had  been  for  at  least 
a  century,  and  with  reference  to  such  a  matter  as  the  relative 
importance  of  different  occupational  groups  it  would  seem 
almost  safe  to  assume  that  conditions  in  1855  were  represen- 
tative of  the  period  following  the  Thirty  Years  War.  In  so 
far  as  it  is  wise  to  include  non-European  countries  hi  the  com- 
parison, the  results  of  the  census  of  occupations  in  British 
India  are  particularly  significant.  British  India  in  1901  was 


256  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

still  predominantly  an  agricultural  country.  The  propor- 
tions of  industrial  to  agricultural  population  must  bear  very 
close  comparison  with  the  proportions  for  England  and  the 
continent  of  Europe  in  the  seventeenth  and  early  eighteenth 
centuries.  The  density  of  population  in  India  was  greater 
than  in  Europe,  but  we  have  no  grounds  for  supposing  that 
conditions  were  not  comparable :  the  normal  density  of  pop- 
ulation for  India  is  considerably  greater  than  the  normal 
density  for  Europe;  both  countries  were  utilizing  all  their 
resources  and  there  is  therefore  a  very  direct  ground  for 
drawing  a  comparison  between  Europe  in  the  seventeenth 
and  eighteenth  centuries  and  India  at  the  present  time. 

The  subordinate  position  of  the  metal  trades  is  clearly  ap- 
parent in  all  three  countries.  Conditions  in  Germany  and 
salient  features  in  British  India  probably  represent  some  of  the 
of  the  tables  variations  in  occupational  groupings  that  are 
likely  to  be  found  in  different  places  or  in  different  stages  of 
what  we  will  term  the  "medieval"  or  intermediate  industrial 
order.  The  large  number  of  persons  engaged  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  food  and  drink  in  India  would  seem  to  represent 
a  condition  that  must  be  most  characteristic  of  the  earlier 
stages  of  development  even  in  this  intermediate  period  of 
industrial  growth.  One  is  tempted  to  draw  comparisons 
with  the  large  number  of  persons  enumerated  among  the 
crafts  engaged  in  the  preparation  of  food  on  the  Paris  tax- 
rolls  of  1296.  The  three  groups,  foods,  leather,  and  textiles, 
were  of  about  coordinate  importance,  each  constituting 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  persons  enumerated. 
It  would  thus  seem  that  the  crafts  occupied  with  food  and 
drink  are  among  the  most  important  in  the  earlier  stages 
of  craft  specialization.  The  importance  of  the  groups  con- 
cerned with  leather  and  wood  in  Germany  is  doubtless 
highly  characteristic  of  occupational  groupings  in  medieval 
Europe.  The  relatively  large  number  of  persons  not  speci- 
fically classified  is  the  outcome  of  the  large  number  of  sub- 
sidiary employments  that  cannot  be  brought  within  the 
modern  classifications.  Many  persons  were  concerned  with 
performing  various  personal  services,  and,  though  these  peo- 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 


257 


OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPINGS  IN  ENGLAND  AND  GERMANY:  1851  AND  1855* 


Group 

England,  1851 

Prussia,  1855 

Thousands  of 
persona 

Per  cent  of 
total 

Thousands 
of  persons 

Per  cent  of 
total 

Textiles  and  clothing  

1,720 
378 
355 
332 
322 
287 
166 
50 
30 
1,168 

35.78 
7.86 
7.38 
6.90 
6.70 
5.97 
3.45 
1.04 
.62 
24.29 

417 
81 

173 
113 
113 
191 

124 

34.41 
6.68 

14^27 
9.32 
9.32 
15.77 

10  [23 

Foodf  

Mines  

Leather  

Metals  

Clay,  stone,  etc.  (building  inc.) 
Wood-working  

Paper  and  printing  

Chemicals  

All  other  occupations  

Totals  

4,808 

100.00 

1,212 

100.00 

*  The  figures  for  England  arc  from  the  Census  for  1851,  Population  Tables,  vol.  n,  part  I, 
p.  c.  The  figures  for  Prussia  are  from  Dieterici,  Statistik  des  preussischen  Stoats  (Berlin,  1861), 
400.  The  states  covered  by  the  enumeration  are:  Prussia,  Posen,  Brandenburg,  Pomerania, 
Silesia,  Saxony,  Westphalia,  and  the  Rhine  Province. 

t  This  heading  refers  in  all  tables  to  the  preparation  of  food  products,  drinks,  and  tobacco. 
It  excludes  all  agricultural  work. 

BRITISH  INDIA:  1901  * 


Group 

Thousands 
of  persons 

Per  cent  of 
total 

11,214 

21.41 

T"ood,  etc  

16,758 

31.99 

Leather               

3,241 

6  19 

Metals  and  precious  stones  

3,710 

7  09 

3,722 

7.11 

Wood,  cane,  leaves  

3,790 

7.24 

Light  firing,  forage  

1,461 

2.79 

Drugs  gums  dyes   ...      

455 

.86 

Learned  and  artistic  professions  

4,928 

9  40 

3,100 

5.92 

Totals  

52,379 

100.00 

*  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India  (Oxford,  1907),  I,  499. 

pie  do  not  constitute  an  important  class  at  the  present  time, 
they  were  relatively  important  in  the  earlier  period.  Per- 
sons engaged  in  the  manufacture  of  wares  that  are  composed 
of  mixed  materials  are  difficult  to  classify,  and,  as  these 
tables  have  been  prepared  from  unclassified  lists  of  crafts- 
men, it  has  seemed  safer  to  include  under  the  general  head- 


258 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


ings  only  those  craftsmen  whose  relation  to  the  occupa- 
tional group  was  unmistakable. 

The  occupational  groupings  at  the  beginning  of  the  twen- 
tieth century  show  the  full  measure  of  the  changes  brought 
Groupings  about  by  the  Industrial  Revolution.  The  Cen- 
in  1907-10  gus  0£  Production  in  the  United  Kingdom  taken 
for  the  year  1907  reveals  an  iron  industry  of  fully  coordinate 
importance  with  the  textile  group.  The  net  value  of  the 
product  is  somewhat  greater,  the  average  number  of  persons 
employed  somewhat  smaller.  In  Germany  somewhat  less 
complete  statistics  point  to  similar  conclusions.  The  metal 
trades  seem  to  be  of  coordinate  importance  with  the  textiles. 
In  the  United  States  the  census  of  1909  reveals  an  iron  in- 
dustry that  was  leading  the  entire  field  in  respect  both  to 
values  of  product  and  numbers  of  persons  employed.  The 
new  industrial  order  thus  represents  an  entirely  different 
grouping  of  the  industrial  population. 

These  changes  in  the  relative  importance  of  the  different 
industry  and  industries  were  accompanied  by  a  general  in- 
agricuiture  crease  hi  the  numerical  importance  of  industrial 
occupations  as  a  whole.  Prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolution 

OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPINGS  IN  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM:  1907  * 


Group 

Cost  of  ma- 
terials (mil- 
lions of 
•pounds  ster- 
ling) 

Net  output 
(millions  of 
pounds 
sterling) 

Per  cent  of 
total  output 

No.  of 

persons 
(thousands) 

Per  cent  of 
total 
persons 

Food,  drink,  and  to- 
bacco   

197 

89.5 

12.51 

463 

6.64 

Textiles  and  clothing.  . 
All  metals  

293 
293 

141.9 
164.8 

19.95 
23.16 

2,009 
1,653 

28.79 
23.67 

Timber  

24 

21.4 

3.02 

239 

3.42 

Leather  

26 

8.6 

1.22 

84 

1.20 

Paper  and  printing.  .  .  . 
Chemicals  

26 
53 

33.6 
21.5 

4.73 
3.03 

325 
127 

4.65 
1.82 

Clay,  stone,  and  build- 
ing   

49 

60.4 

8.49 

725 

10.40 

Mines  and  quarries.  .  .  . 
Miscellaneous  

28 
3 

119.5 

4.4 

16.80 
.63 

965 
46 

13.83 
.65 

Public  utilities  

30 

45.9 

6.46 

342 

4.90 

Totals  

1,028 

712.1 

100.00 

6,984 

100.00 

*  Census  of  Production,  final  figures,  Commons  Papers,  1912-13  (Cd.  6320),  cix,  1,  21. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 

OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPINGS  IN  GERMANY:  1907  * 


259 


Groups 

Thousands  of 
persona 

Per  cent  of 
total 

Foods,  etc  

1,239 

11  73 

Textiles  and  clothing  

2393 

22  65 

All  metals             

2,057 

19  47 

Wood,  manufacturers  of  wood,  and  by-products. 
Leather.                   

864 
206 

8.18 
1  95 

Paper  and  printing  

438 

4  15 

Chemicals,  etc  

172 

1  63 

Stone  and  earth  (includes  "  Quarries")  

770 

7  29 

Building  

1,563 

14  80 

Mines  

860 

8  15 

Totals  

10562 

100  00 

*  Statistik  des  Deutschen  Reichs,  Band  213,  1.    Gewerbliche  Betriebsstatistik,  4-5. 

OCCUPATIONAL  GROUPINGS  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES:  1909  * 


Group 

No  of 
persona 
(thou- 
sands) 

Per'cent 

Cost  of 
materials 
(millions 
of  dollars) 

Value  of 
product 
(millions 
of  dollars) 

Per  cent 
of  total 

Per  cent 
added 
bymanu* 
facture 

Foods  

411 

6.2 

3,187 

3,937 

19  0 

19  0 

Textiles  

1,437 

21  7 

1,741 

3,054 

14  8 

43  0 

All  metals  

1,779 

27  0 

3,213 

5,399 

26  1 

Lumber  

907 

13.7 

714 

1,582 

7.7 

54.8 

Leather  

309 

4.7 

669 

992 

4.8 

32.5 

Paper  and  printing  

415 

6.3 

451 

1,179 

5  7 

61.7 

Liquors  

77 

1.2 

186 

674 

3  3 

72  4 

Chemicals  

237 

3.6 

857 

1,430 

6.9 

39  4 

Stone,  clay,  and  glass  
Tobacco  

342 
166 

5.2 
2.5 

183 
177 

531 
416 

2.6 
2  0 

65.4 
57  5 

Miscellaneous  

526 

8.0 

748 

1,470 

7.1 

49.1 

Totals  

6,615 

100  0 

12,142 

20,672 

100.0 

*  Census  of  1910,  vni,  53,  Table  7. 

industry  employed  a  much  smaller  proportion  of  the  popu- 
lation than  agriculture.  The  conditions  suggested  by  the 
figures  for  British  India  and  for  France  in  1866  probably  rep- 
resent the  extremes :  it  is  hardly  likely  that  agriculture  fur- 
nished employment  to  more  than  64  to  65  per  cent  of  the 
population  of  any  maturely  developed  section  of  Europe  prior 
to  the  Industrial  Revolution;  it  is  equally  probable  that  the 
agricultural  population  did  not  fall  below  50  per  cent.  France 
was  at  all  tunes  possessed  of  important  export  industries,  but 


260  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

OCCUPATIONAL  DIVISIONS  OP  THE  POPULATION 

A.  Countries  not  significantly  influenced  by  the  Industrial  Revolution 

BRITISH  INDIA:  1901* 


Group 

Thousands  of  persons 

Percent 

Administration  and  defense  

5,607 

1.90 

Agriculture  

191,691 

64.98 

Personal,  household,  and  sanitary  service.  .  . 
Care  of  animals  

10,707 
3,976        ' 

3.63 
1.32 

Earthworks  and  general  labor  

17,953 

6.07 

Trade  and  commerce  

7,725 

2.61 

Industry  

51,642 

17.49 

Miscellaneous  

5,911 

2.00 

Totals  

295,222 

100.00 

*  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India  (Oxford,  1907),  i.  499. 


FRANCE:  1866* 


Group 

Thousands  of  persons 

Percent 

Fishing,  agriculture,  and  forestry  

7,231 

52.2 

Industry  

4,647 

33.6 

Commerce  

972 

7.0 

Liberal  professions  

999 

7.2 

Totals  

13,849 

100.0 

*  Resultats  Statistiques  du  Recensement  General  de  la  Population  effectue  le  4  Mars,  1906  (Paris, 
1910),  tome  i,  II«  partie,  p.  57. 

B.  Countries  in  which  the  influence  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  appears  in 
a  moderate  degree  only 

THE  GERMAN  EMPIRE:  1895  AND  1907* 


Group 

Thousands  of  persons 

Percent 

1895 

1907 

1895 

1907 

18,501 
20,253 
5,966 

886 
2,098 

17,681 
26,386 
8,278 

792 
2,626 

38.78 
42.45 
12.54 

1.85 
4.38 

31.72 
47.33 
14.84 

1.41 

4.70 

Industry  

Commerce  

Personal  service  and  artistic 
professi6ns  

Free  professions  and  public 

Totals  

47,704 

55,763 

100.00 

100.00 

Statiatisches  Jahrbuchfur  Oaa  Deutsche  Reich  (1914),  14-15. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION 

FRANCE:  1901  AND  1906  * 


261 


Group 

Thousands  of  persona 

Per  cent 

1901 

1908 

1901 

1906 

Fishing  and  agriculture  
Industry  

8,244 
6,993 
1,881 
1,621 

8,855 

7,224 
2,068 
1,626 

44.0 
37.3 
10.1 
8.6 

44.8 
36.5 
10.5 
8.2 

Commerce  

Liberal  professions  

Totals  

18,739 

19,773 

100.0 

100.0 

*  ResuUots  Stotistiques  (Paris,  1910),  tome  i,  II*  partie,  p.  57. 

Note.  The  figures  for  the  United  States  are  not  easily  comparable  as  the 
unskilled  laborers  are  not  sufficiently  well  classified.  Many  engaged  in  agri- 
culture or  industry  appear  under  the  general  heading  "  Domestic  and  Personal 
Service." 

C.  Great  Britain,  representing  the  most  extreme  effects  of  the  Industrial 

Revolution 

GREAT  BRITAIN:  1811  AND  1821* 


Group 

Thousands  of  families 

Percent 

1811 

1821 

1811 

1821 

Agriculture  

895 
1129 
519 

978 
1350 
612 

35 

44 
21 

33 
46 
21 

Industry  

All  other-  

Totals  

2543 

2940 

100 

100 

*  Census  of  Great  Britain,  1851,  Population  Tables,  vol.  n,  part  i,  p.  Ixix. 

ENGLAND  AND  WALES:  1891  AND  1901* 


Group 

Thousands  of  persons 

Per  cent 

1891 

1901 

1891 

1901 

Professional  class  

926 
1,900 
1,399 
1,336 
7,336 

972 
1,994 
1,858 
1,152 
8,350 

7.15 
14.76 
10.80 
10.33 
56.96 

6.78 
13.91 
12.97 
8.04 
58.30 

Domestic  service  

Commerce  

Agriculture  and  fishing  

Industry  

Totals  

12,897 

14,326 

100.00 

100.08 

*  Hobson,  J.  A. :  Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism,  384. 


262' 

the  proportions  shown  for  1866  probably  represent  as  high  a 
proportion  of  industrial  workers  as  can  be  presumed  for  the 
preceding  century.  Even  in  the  most  highly  developed  in- 
dustrial sections,  agriculture  was  thus  the  chief  interest  and 
employment  of  the  people.  Directly  or  indirectly,  national 
wealth  was  dependent  upon  agricultural  resources. 

Leading  medieval  industries  with  their  specialized  indus- 
trial population  were  dependent  upon  an  agricultural  surplus. 
The  basis  of  Much  industry  was  really  a  by-employment, 
national  used  by  persons  whose  chief  occupation  was 

agriculture  to  supplement  their  income  from  the 
land.  Even  when  industry  was  a  definitely  specialized  occu- 
pation, the  artisans  were  obliged  to  live  as  close  as  possible 
to  the  farms  which  produced  the  necessities  of  life.  No  dis- 
tinction could  be  drawn  between  industrial  and  agricultural 
resources.  The  extractive  industries  were  of  definitely  sec- 
ondary importance.  The  mineral  resources  of  England  were 
thus  of  casual  significance  only  throughout  the  middle  ages. 
The  fertility  of  France,  on  the  other  hand,  was  the  basis  of  a 
great  industrial  development.  In  the  middle  ages,  France 
was  the  most  highly  developed  portion  of  Europe,  and  eco- 
nomically the  most  prosperous.  Some  of  the  Italian  Repub- 
lics enjoyed  a  high  degree  of  prosperity,  but  this  was  not 
shared  by  Italy  as  a  whole,  for  reasons  that  were  partly  politi- 
cal and  partly  economic.  The  cities  of  the  Low  Countries 
enjoyed  periods  of  great  prosperity,  but  in  so  far  as  this  well- 
being  had  a  solid  foundation  it  rested  upon  the  agricultural 
wealth  of  the  country,  and  the  easy  access  to  the  surplus 
grain  supplies  of  the  countries  of  the  Baltic. 

The  rise  of  the  new  metal  industry  during  the  Industrial 
Revolution  completely  transformed  the  relation  between 
Mineral  re-  industry  and  agriculture.  Industrial  develop- 
sourcesand  ment  came  to  be  dependent  uDon  mineral  re- 
sources and  climate.  Industry  was  set  free  from 
its  dependence  upon  agriculture,  both  as  to  the  details  of 
location  and  as  to  the  extent  of  possible  development.  Indus- 
trial wealth  became,  for  the  first  time,  antithetical  to  agri- 
cultural wealth.  The  significance  of  mineral  resources  will 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  263 

be  readily  apparent  to  all,  and  this  aspect  of  the  migration  of 
industry  from  southern  and  eastern  England  to  the  north  of 
England  and  to  Scotland  was  soon  appreciated.  The  coal- 
beds  of  the  West  Riding  of  Yorkshire,  Lancashire,  and  the 
midlands  afforded  the  power  which  was  so  necessary  to  the 
new  industrial  technique.  The  significance  of  climate  was 
fully  appreciated  only  at  a  relatively  late  date.  The  older 
types  of  mill  with  stone  walls,  wooden  floors,  and  relatively 
little  ventilation  minimized  the  difficulties  of  a  technical  na- 
ture. The  workmen  knew  that  moisture  was  favorable  to 
spinning  and  they  secured  a  measure  of  empirical  success  by 
diligent  use  of  a  plain  watering-can.  The  evaporation  of 
water  from  the  floor  of  the  room  is  wholly  adequate  from  the 
standpoint  of  spuming  and  weaving,  though  it  is  neither  agree- 
able nor  healthy  for  the  operatives.  There  was  little  exact 
study  of  the  relation  of  humidity  to  spinning  and  weaving 
until  the  latter  part  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  new 
steel  construction  had  made  the  problem  urgent,  and  at- 
tempts to  reduce  bronchial  and  pulmonary  diseases  had  stim- 
ulated exact  keeping  of  humidity  records. 

The  difficulties  that  arise  from  low  humidity  appear  most 
obviously  in  the  development  of  free  electricity  in  the  rooms 
of  the  factory.  A  somewhat  extreme  case  is  Humidity  in 
cited  with  reference  to  a  factory  at  Glasgow,  cotton  spinning 
"The  accumulation  of  electricity  in  one  room  in  particular, 
in  which  was  a  large  cast-iron  lathe,  shears,  and  other  ma- 
chinery driven  with  great  velocity  by  belts,  was  so  great, 
that  it  was  necessary,  in  order  to  protect  the  workmen  from 
unpleasant  shocks,  to  connect  the  machinery  with  copper 
wire  with  the  iron  columns  of  the  building,  and  then  when 
a  break  in  the  wire  was  made  at  a  quarter  of  an  inch,  the 
succession  of  sparks  was  very  rapid."  "I  have  seen  mills 
of  recent  construction,"  says  Dobson,  "especially  fireproof 
mills,  where  every  shaft,  column,  and  beam  of  the  fabric  of 
the  mill  was  charged  with  electricity  to  such  a  degree  that 
cotton  fiber  stood  out  from  the  ironwork  to  the  distance  of 
at  least  three  inches,  radially  to  the  center  of  electric  attrac- 
tion." The  electricity  is  usually  developed  by  the  friction 


264  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

between  belting  and  pulleys  and  drums.  The  effect  on  the 
manufacture  is  twofold;  the  product  is  inferior,  and  the  costs 
of  manufacture  are  greatly  increased.  Electricity  is  devel- 
oped chiefly  when  the  atmosphere  is  dry,  so  that  relatively 
high  humidity  offers  a  solution  for  most  of  these  difficulties. 
Careful  tests  made  by  Mr.  Dobson  of  yarns  spun  at  31  per 
cent  relative  humidity  and  at  50  per  cent  relative  humidity 
Effect  on  revealed  a  difference  of  five  pounds  in  the  tensile 

strength  of  yarn  gtrength  of  the  latter.  Number  40  yarn  spun 
at  31  per  cent  humidity  tested  45.66  pounds,  similar  yarn 
spun  at  50  per  cent  humidity  tested  50.66  pounds.  The 
mechanical  qualities  of  the  yarns  are  also  affected  by  humid- 
ity. Yarn  spun  under  relatively  unfavorable  conditions  is 
less  even  hi  size,  and  has  more  loose  fibers  attached  to  it. 
Much  fiber  is  also  thrown  off  by  the  machines  as  waste,  and 
when  conditions  are  distinctly  unfavorable  as  to  humidity 
the  amount  of  waste  literally  clogs  the  machine.  An  Ameri- 
can firm,  for  instance,  found  that  it  was  impossible  to  use 
in  their  mill  a  machine  that  could  be  operated  successfully 
in  England.  Low  humidity  thus  results  in  positive  break- 
down of  machinery  unless  the  speed  and  character  of  the 
work  are  modified.  Climate  thus  becomes  a  decisive  factor  in 
the  development  of  the  modern  textile  industry.  Only_lhfi. 
coarser  grades  of  stuff,  whether  cotton  or  woolen,  .can  be 
made  when  climatic  conditions  are  unfavorable.  The  finer 


gracles  of^arn  and  clothlire~bBtngmade  more  and  more 
largely  in  those  districts  whose  climate  is  favorable,  and 
there  is  reason  to  believe  that  to-day  climate  is  at  least  of 
coordinate  importance  with  powe£^3ete^mning^thft  locfl- 
tipn  of  the  major  textile  Districts  oLthe  worldT 

Some"~writers"ar¥lncIIned  to  doubt  the  importance  of  cli- 
mate, on  the  ground  that  artificial  humidification  presents 
Artificial  nu-  a  conlplete  solution.  It  would  seem  that  the 
midification  piace  of  artificial  humidification  might  easily  be 
misunderstood.  Even  when  general  conditions  are  favor- 
able, some  artificial  humidification  is  desirable,  if  not  actu- 
ally necessary.  One  might  even  say  that  there  has  long  been 
some  attempt  at  artificial  humidification  in  the  more  impor- 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  265 

tant  textile  districts.  In  so  far  as  there  is  novelty  it  lies  in 
the  attempt  to  control  this  factor  with  scientific  accuracy  and 
certainty.  The  use  of  the  watering-can  is  as  old  as  the  spin- 
ning industry  hi  Lancashire.  In  the  districts  favored  by 
climate,  more  significant  results  are  possible  with  humidifi- 
cation  than  in  unfavorable  districts  even  with  the  best  appa- 
ratus. The  difference  in  climate  would  thus  seem  to  be  one 
of  the  most  nearly  permanent  bases  of  industrial  location. 

Although  the   subject  is  rather  technical,  the  folio  whig 
passage  from  Mr.  Dobson's  study  will  perhaps  be  of  interest : 

In  making  a  comparison  between  one  district  and  another,  as  re- 
gards its  capabilities  for  manufacturing,  there  are  several  points 
which  must  be  carefully  weighed  in  all  cases:  the  Comparison  of 
first  being  the  question  of  mean  temperature,  the  various  regions 
second,  the  extreme  range  of  temperature  to  which  it  is  subject, 
and  the  third  the  weight  of  aqueous  vapor  per  cubic  foot  of  atmos- 
phere. I  append  a  table  of  statistics  with  regard  to  the  foregoing 
conditions,  and  will  endeavor  to  deduce  the  comparative  values  for 
the  purpose  of  manufacturing  —  say  cotton  spinning,  in  each  case. 
I  have  taken  official  meteorological  records  of  twelve  parts  of  the 
world  —  the  10th,  llth,  and  12th  being  respectively,  Boston 
(Mass.),  Bolton  (Lancashire),  and  the  district  near  Lille.  I  will  pro- 
ceed to  show  why,  and  to  what  degree,  each  is  favored  by  its 
climatic  peculiarities  for  this  particular  industry.  I  have  given  in 
each  case  the  monthly  maximum  and  minimum  temperature,  and 
the  mean  monthly  maximum  and  minimum  of  relative  humidity, 
and,  also,  the  calculated  annual  mean.  The  latter  is  of  little  value 
as  a  factor  in  the  problem,  as,  of  course,  extremes  of  conditions 
of  humidity  would  not  affect  the  annual  mean;  although  one  con- 
dition or  the  other,  or  both,  might  be  very  prejudicial  to  the  work- 
ing of  the  fiber.  And  I  may  state  as  a  principle,  that  the  less  the 
range  of  temperature,  and  the  more  regular  the  degree  of  humidity, 
the  better  the  conditions.  Thus,  for  instance  take  the  contrast 
between  Boston  and  Bolton.  I  find  the  highest  mean  monthly 
humidity  in  Boston  to  be  85  per  cent,  against  Bolton,  93.1  per  cent; 
the  lowest  monthly  mean  66  per  cent,  against  one  of  69  per  cent. 
Moreover,  comparing  the  annual  mean  humidity,  Boston  has  74.5 
per  cent,  while  Bolton  has  81.9  per  cent,  the  contrast  showing  an 
immense  advantage  in  favor  of  Bolton.  Again,  take  the  range  of 
temperature  —  in  Bolton  it  is  62.8  degrees,  whilst  in  Boston  it  is 
92  degrees.  When  the  temperature  in  Boston  is  minus  one  degree, 
the  absolute  amount  of  vapor  in  suspension  would  be  practically 


266  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

nil  —  about  half  a  grain  per  cubic  foot  of  air;  consequently  when 
the  air  is  heated  sufficiently  to  allow  of  spinning  operations  it  would 
be  absolutely  necessary,  even  for  considerations  of  health  alone,  to 
impart  artificial  humidity.  The  climatic  conditions  of  the  district 
near  Lille  will  be  seen  to  more  nearly  resemble  those  of  Bolton.1 

Mineral  resources,  unlike  climate,  are  a  singularly  capri- 
cious basis  of  industrial  location,  and  some  discussion  of  the 
Availability  of     subject  is  perhaps  desirable,  lest  it  be  supposed 
mineral  deposits  ^hat  these  newer  considerations  in  industrial  de- 
velopment impose  a  rigid  determination  upon  the  world. 
Apart  from  the  changes  that  must  always  turn  upon  the 
gradual  diffusion  of  technique,  the  metal  trades  introduce 
many  elements  of  industrial  instability.    The  economic  signi- 
ficance of  deposits  depends  upon  conditions  of  utilization. 
Deposits  that  are  absolutely  unworkable  under  particular 
conditions  may  become  of  incalculable  value  by  reason  of 
minute  changes  in  processes  of  reduction  and  utilization. 
Similarly,  deposits  that  have  been  valuable  in  a  given  period 
may  cease  to  be  of  practical  significance  because  richer  de- 
posits are  opened  up  or  made  available.    All  of  these  possi- 
bilities are  illustrated  by  the  history  of  the  iron  trade  in  the 
nineteenth  century.    English  ore-beds  are  in  most  cases  mod- 
erate in  extent  and  richness,  but  numerous  and  peculiarly 
available  because  of  the  proximity  of  the  coal.    The  immense 
ore  deposits  of  Lorraine  and  Luxemburg  were  well  known 
but  were  of  low  grade  and  contained  enough  phosphorus 
to  render  them  almost  valueless.     The  basic  modification 
of  the  Bessemer  process  made  it  possible  to  utilize  these 
deposits.     Simultaneously,  extraordinarily  rich  deposits  of 
pure  Bessemer  ore  were  discovered  in  the  Lake 
Superior  district  of  the  United  States.     These 
two  deposits  of  ore  dominate  the  industrial  world  to-day. 
The  industrial  prestige  of  England  has  been  destroyed  by  the 
rise  of  Germany  and  the  United  States.    The  dislocations  in 
the  metal  industries  have  occasioned  real  disturbances  of  the 
general  political  and  economic  equilibrium. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  other  generations  may 

.   *  Dobson,  B.  A. :  Humidity  in  Cotton  Spinning  (Manchester,  1901),  15-16. 


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!•       •• 


e     o     e 
g     ci     o 


C-       00       t- 


00        >O 

s  s 


S2S53 


eneia 


ri-M 
-" 


O01< 

Sot- 


i  i4l 


Hl|  ! 

-- 


5  S  3 

*  *  s 

g  s  ^ 

H  m  • 

C^  00  O> 


|S5 

««3 

e-;i 


268  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

not  witness  dislocations  fully  as  startling.  There  are 
deposits  of  ore  in  Newfoundland,  rich  in  iron  but  at  present 
unavailable  because  of  the  presence  of  titanic  acid.  A  dis- 
covery, somewhat  similar  in  general  character  to  the  discovery 
of  Thomas  and  Gilchrist,  would  produce  important  disturb- 
ances hi  the  iron  and  steel  trade.  The  ore  deposits  of  the 
Western  world  are  coming  to  be  fairly  well  known;  there  is 
to-day  some  measure  of  certainty,  but  economic  availability 
depends  upon  many  factors  that  are  wholly  uncertain.  Sud- 
den displacements  of  industry  are  thus  characteristic  of  the 
world  created  by  the  Industrial  Revolution.  There  is  less 
stability  in  the  present  economic  system  than  there  was  in 
the  system  based  on  agriculture  that  was  supplanted. 

These  disturbances  of  the  economic  equilibrium  are  com- 
parable to  some  of  the  caprices  of  commercial  development 
during  the  middle  ages  and  in  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  Purely  political  factors  were  in  many  cases  suf- 
ficient to  divert  and  concentrate  hi  particular  localities  a 
stream  of  commerce  that  was  rather  small  in  volume  and 
consequently  capable  of  finding  adequate  facilities  in  any  one 
of  many  localities.  The  instabilities  of  Italian  commercial 
and  industrial  growth  may  be  traced  to  such  sources;  alter- 
nations of  prosperity  and  decay  in  the  Low  Countries  may 
also  be  ascribed  to  political  factors.  The  present  relation 
between  economic  and  political  factors  is  the  reverse.  The 
The  balance  economic  change  exerts  an  influence  upon  the 
of  power  balance  of  political  power.  Thus,  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution  was  a  factor,  not  necessarily  the  sole  factor, 
in  the  loss  of  prestige  by  France  in  the  course  of  the  nine- 
teenth century.  Economic  changes  were  a  factor  hi  the  im- 
perial prestige  of  England  in  the  latter  half  of  the  century. 
The  economic  rejuvenation  of  Germany  has  been  of  impor- 
tance hi  connection  with  the  disturbances  of  the  balance  of 
power  hi  Europe.  The  achievement  of  political  stability 
will  be  a  matter  of  great  difficulty  as  long  as  the  underlying 
economic  basis  of  political  power  is  subject  to  such  momen- 
tous changes  as  have  taken  place  in  the  last  generation. 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  269 

The  emancipation  of  industry  from  close  dependence  upon 
a  local  surplus  of  food  products  has  resulted  in  greater  con- 
centration of  population.  The  increased  oppor-  , 

.......  .  ,  Population 

turn  ties  for  industrial  employment  created  new 
opportunities  for  agriculture.  The  importation  of  food 
products  became  essential  to  some  regions.  They  were  able 
to  draw  from  a  more  remote  frontier.  Growth  of  popula- 
tion in  Europe  and  in  England  has  thus  been  accompanied 
by  proportionate  growth  in  the  frontier  countries.  The  in- 
dustrial and  the  agricultural  population  became  separated 
territorially,  and,  by  this  new  division  of  labor,  expansion  was 
possible  of  which  no  one  dreamed  at  the  beginning  of  the 
nineteenth  century.  The  dismal  forebodings  of  the  Malthu- 
sians  seem  very  remote  to  us,  and  it  is  equally  difficult  for  us 
to  appreciate  Liebig's  feeling  that  the  application  of  scientific 
theory  to  agriculture  would  be  of  inestimable  humanitarian 
worth  by  reason  of  freeing  the  world  from  the  prospect  of 
indefinitely  increasing  pressure  upon  food-supply.  We  have 
become  so  accustomed  to  rapid  growth  of  population  that  we 
cannot  enter  into  the  older  point  of  view  without  determined 
effort. 

The  calculations  of  Gregory  King  (1693)  may  therefore 
serve  a  useful  purpose,   presenting   the   best 
judgment  of  the  tune  upon  the  existing  popula- 
tion of  England  and  his  expectation  of  increase. 

THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND,  ITS  HISTORY  AND  ITS  FUTURE  — 
GREGORY  KING:  1693 

Persons 

1300 2,860,000 

1400 3,300,000 

1500 3,840,000 

1600 4,620,000 

1700 5,550,000 

1800 6,420,000 

1900 7,350,000 

2000 8,280,000 

2100 9,205,000 

2200 10,115,000 

2300 11,000,000 


£70  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

THE  POPULATION  OF  ENGLAND  AND  WALES:  1700-1911 


Estimates  based  on  the  baptismal 


registers  * 


Persona 


1700 5,475,000 

1710 5,240,000 

1720 5,565,000 

1730 5,796,000 

1740 6,064,000 

1750 6,467,000 

1760 6,736,000 

1770 7,428,000 

1780 7,953,000 

1790 8,675,000 

1800 9,168,000 


Census  returns 

Persons 

1801 8,892,000 

1811 10,164,000 

1821 12,000,000 

1831 13,896,000 

1841 15,914,000 

1851 17,927,000 

1861 20,066,000 

1871 22,712,000 

1881 25,974,000 

1891 29,002,000 

1901 32,527,000 

1911 36,070,000 


*  Abstract  of  the  Answers  and  Returns  (Census  1821),  Preliminary  Observations,  xsix.    The 
figures  differ  somewhat  from  figures  published  in  1831. 

It  will  be  observed  that  King's  estimate  of  the  population 
for  1700  is  slightly  larger  than  the  estimate  made  later  by  the 
census  authorities  in  1821,  but  the  discrepancy  is  not  large 
considering  the  uncertainty  attending  all  such  computations. 
King's  rate  of  increase  was  based  on  English  figures  for  a 
century  or  more,  and  while  his  materials  were  defective  to 
the  last  degree  we  should  hardly  be  warranted  in  declaring 
his  forecasts  foolish.  He  expected  the  population  to  be 
almost  stationary.  The  population  of  France  has  been  in 
fact  about  as  nearly  stationary  as  he  anticipated.  The  dis- 
turbing factor  in  his  calculations  was  not  an  error  in  the  prob- 
able rate  of  increase,  other  things  remaining  the  same.  This 
was  one  of  the  many  instances  in  which  things  refused  to  re- 
main the  same.  The  normal  density  of  population  for  the 
essentially  agricultural  civilization  of  the  intermediate  period 
and  the  older  expectations  of  increase  ceased  to  have  any  vital 
significance  for  the  world  created  by  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion. The  expansion  of  European  population  as  in  influ- 
ence,  was  one  of  the  most  unexpected  events  of  history,  and 
The  changed  these  forces  were  most  remarkably  manifested 
outiook  in  Enfllftnd.  The  economic  changes  that  made 

this  growth  possible  effected  a  complete  transformation  in 
the  outlook  upon  life.    The  sense  of  the  limitation  of  human 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  271 

activities  by  nature  that  cast  a  positive  gloom  over  the  early 
nineteenth  century  has  disappeared,  and  at  the  outbreak  of 
the  Great  War  the  confidence  in  human  powers  and  the  sense 
of  mastery  over  nature  had  reached  a  climax. 

The  Industrial  Revolution  was  thus  a  revolution  in  every 
sense  of  the  word,  except  that  of  suddenness  of  transition. 
But  the  extraordinary  character  of  the  trans-  The  Industrial 
formation  must  hi  itself  be  sufficient  to  convince  Revolution 
one  that  such  changes  in  the  matters  of  daily  life 
could  not  take  place  suddenly.  Particular  machines  can  be 
brought  to  public  attention  within  a  brief  space  of  time;  the 
form  of  industrial  organization  can  be  changed,  though  that 
would  inevitably  require  a  longer  period.  But  the  Industrial 
Revolution  was  more  than  any  such  formula  could  possibly 
imply.  The  "Great  Inventions"  were  merely  a  stage  in  a 
long  development  of  a  new  mechanical  technique,  neither  the 
beginning  of  the  new  order  nor  its  culmination.  The  rise  of 
the  modern  factory  system  was  only  one  of  many  results  of 
mechanical  change,  industrial  dislocation,  and  commercial 
development.  The  abandonment  of  the  idea  that  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution  was  sudden  involves  a  considerable  read- 
justment of  chronology  for  the  entire  movement.  The  study 
must  be  carried  farther  back  into  the  past  and  continued 
down  nearer  to  the  present  tune.  The  establishment  of  even 
approximate  limits  is  obviously  difficult. 

There  is  a  growing  disposition  to  carry  the  beginnings  of 
the  movement  back  to  1700,  treating  the  date  as  an  approxi- 
mative round  number.  The  date  is  wholly  satisfactory 
except  for  the  metal  trades,  in  which  the  abortive  experi- 
ments of  Dudley  are  pretty  clearly  the  beginning  of  the  story. 
This  case  illustrates  the  difficulty  of  finding  the  beginnings  of 
a  change  in  industrial  technique.  There  are  many  begin- 
nings, many  meanings  of  new,  many  degrees  of  novelty  hi 
invention. 

Patent  law  is  by  necessity  constrained  to  assume  that  an 
invention  can  be  exclusively  the  work  of  an  individual;  the 
historian  who  gives  heed  to  all  the  facts  must  needs  admit 
that  most  achievements  are  not  the  work  of  a  single  indi- 


272  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OP  ENGLAND 

vidual.  There  is  a  difference  between  an  invention  and  a 
mechanical  achievement;  the  latter  phrase  implies  that  the 
affair  is  practically  useful.  Now,  an  individual  can  certainly 
invent  something  that  is  distinctly  new,  but  it  is  rare  that 
any  single  individual  can  compass  a  notable  mechanical 
achievement  by  methods  that  are  wholly,  or  even  primarily 
new.  The  larger  achievements  are  the  result  of  endeavors 
stages  in  exerted  over  a  perceptible  period  of  time,  usually 
inventive  by  successive  inventors.  In  the  early  days  of 

achievement  1-11  .1  •  v  i 

mechanical  endeavor,  this  preliminary  struggle 
is  particularly  long.  The  entire  process  of  invention  may 
be  divided  into  three  stages,  which  have  a  certain  degree  of 
logical  and  dramatic  sequence.  The  beginning  of  every  me- 
chanical achievement  must  be  a  matter  of  pure  conception. 
Before  any  contrivance  can  be  made  it  must  exist  more  or 
less  completely  hi  the  mind  of  its  inventor.  The  conception 
becomes  entirely  real  when  a  small  experimental  model  can 
be  built,  but  any  one  familiar  with  the  history  of  any  in- 
ventive achievement  knows  how  great  may  be  the  difficulty 
of  converting  the  model  into  a  practicable  device  of  com- 
mercial importance.  Many  details  of  construction  that  are 
of  no  moment  in  connection  with  the  model  may  offer  almost 
insuperable  obstacles  to  the  building  of  full-sized  machines. 
Both  aeroplane  and  automobile  were  seriously  handicapped 
at  the  outset  by  the  inadequacy  of  the  motor  available. 
There  was  enough  power  to  demonstrate  the  possibilities, 
but  not  enough  to  insure  reliability.  Watt  found  it  possible 
to  build  a  model  of  his  condensing  engine  because  all  the  parts 
could  be  made  of  the  softer  metals  and  with  considerable  ac- 
curacy. Smeaton,  a  contemporary  engineer  who  was  shown 
practical  the  model,  said  that  it  was  wonderfully  perfect, 

difficulties  kut  declared  that  it  could  never  be  built,  and 
Watt's  long  struggles  in  the  machine  shop  testify  eloquently 
to  the  keen  appreciation  of  Smeaton  for  the  difficulties  of 
engine-building.  Cylinders  could  not  be  made  of  sufficient 
accuracy  of  bore  to  work  effectively,  and  every  detail  from 
piston  packings  to  valve  construction  presented  an  individ- 
ual problem.  The  period  of  struggle  with  details  of  con- 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  273 

struction  must  needs  be  present  in  every  mechanical  achieve- 
ment: present  in  some  degree  before  the  full  consequences  of 
the  invention  can  be  realized.  At  tunes  the  interval  may  be 
short,  and  the  struggle  not  very  difficult:  Whitney's  cotton 
gin  and  Crompton's  mule  afford  illustrations  of  machines 
that  became  economically  significant  almost  immediately, 
but  even  hi  these  cases  it  was  some  tune  before  the  machine 
reached  a  stable  form. 

"  When  the  technical  difficulties  have  been  overcome  the  full 
measure  of  the  importance  of  the  original  conception  is  really 
achieved,  and  with  this  stage  of  development  the  commercial 
great  financial  rewards  are  usually  associated.  8Uccess 
The  inventors  who  win  great  wealth  are,  in  niost  instances, 
inventors  who  have  participated  in  the  last  stages  of  the  long 

•^^?-<"'^^^rt**i*^*l'*'i<*>taiW"*>**«ii*««iw»*i»<*^#ijtt^«*w«<'^***^1^  P***"W*^**pl*^^**"'''*"p"^*'>«»^w»^»w>wi^— ***^<"^"^ 

chain  oi_correlated  myentipns  so^that  they  really  receive  a_ 
rewardfor  the  wBf>Tk  nf 'ffljfvlr  pffflfecessors  as  well  as  for  their' 
^work.  Arkwright's  conversion  of  a  model  spinning 
macnine  into  a  commercial  success  which  made  him  wealthy 
furnishes  a  perfect  illustration  of  the  possibilities  of  deriving 
benefits  pretty  directly  from  the  efforts  of  others.  In  many 
cases  the  connection  might  be  less  direct,  and  might  be  more 
nearly  free  from  all  suggestion  of  unscrupulous  exploitation 
of  other  people's  ideas. 

The  commercial  value  of  an  invention  depends  largely 
upon  the  ease  with  which  the  idea  can  be  utilized.  The  most 
brilliant  conception  is  of  little  immediate  use  if  Rewards  of 
it  is  wellnigh  impossible  to  embody  it  in  an  lnventors 
actual  machine.  The  commercial  availability  of  an  inven- 
tion is  thus  measured  in  no  small  degree  by  the  effort  required 
to  make  the  conception  a  reality.  If  it  is  possible  for  an  in- 
ventor to  make  drawings  of  his  machine,  having  ready  at 
hand  firms  of  machine-builders  capable  of  executing  the  de- 
signs, the  inventor  is  benefited  directly  by  all  the  mechanical 
achievement  of  a  century  or  more  of  struggle.  His  innova- 
tion can  become  immediately  useful  on  a  large  scale.  The 
devices  perfected  by  Professor  Pupin  to  facilitate  long-dis- 
tance telephoning  probably  brought  their  inventor  larger 
rewards  than  the  original  inventors  of  the  telephone  secured; 


274  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

and  though  it  seems  illogical  that  the  subordinate  invention 
should  yield  larger  returns  than  the  principal  invention  it 
should  not  be  a  cause  for  surprise.  The  commercial  value 
of  inventions  thus  depends  hi  part  upon  the  technical  equip- 
ment of  society.  The  individual  working  in  comparative 
isolation  may  conceive  great  things  and  struggle  patiently 
toward  then*  accomplishment,  but  the  final  accomplishment 
must  involve  more  than  the  efforts  of  detached  individuals. 
The  conception  may  be,  indeed,  the  work  of  the  individual, 
but  the  accomplishment  is  the  work  of  society  in  its  organ- 
ized entirety. 

The  history  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  is  therefore  some- 
thing more  than  a  chronicle  of  various  individual  inventive 
cumulative  achievements;  it  is  a  record  of  the  development 
effort  of  a  new  quality  of  technical  equipment,  and 

the  mechanical  technique  was  acquired  slowly  and  painfully 
with  the  same  successive  stages  of  effort  that  appear  with 
reference  to  each  single  invention.  There  is  thus  a  period  of 
conceptions,  a  period  of  struggle,  and  a  period  of  achieve- 
ment. The  early  eighteenth  century  was  in  general  a  tune 
of  conceptions,  experiments  that  were  important,  but  for  the 
most  part  devoid  of  large  commercial  significance.  It  was  so 
in  the  metal  trades,  and  in  the  textile  trades;  new  things  were 
done,  but  no  great  results  were  achieved.  The  late  eight- 
eenth century  and  the  early  nineteenth  century  was  the 
period  of  struggle.  The  biographies  of  the  inventors  of  this 
generation  are  closely  similar.  Most  of  them  are  poor,  and 
few  achieve  even  financial  competence.  The  daily  incident 
of  then-  lives  is  the  struggle  to  realize  great  ideas  with  woe- 
fully inadequate  means,  financially  and  technically.  Begin- 
ning perhaps  with  the  decade  of  the  thirties  financial  returns 
become  more  usual,  and  in  Sir  Henry  Bessemer  we  find  one 
Social  or  indi-  °^  the  first  inventors  to  acquire  a  truly  large 
viduai  accom-  fortune.  The  latter  half  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury is  thus  the  culminating  achievement  of 
the  century  or  more  of  effort  that  preceded,  and  though  the 
fortunes  of  the  inventors  of  the  period  are  due  hi  part  to  their 
qualities  as  individuals,  they  are  also  in  part  attributable  to 


THE  INDUSTRIAL  REVOLUTION  275 

the  general  equipment  of  society  that  has  been  so  laboriously 
created. 

Treatment  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  has  frequently 
slighted  both  its  beginning  and  its  end;  there  is  a  great  temp- 
tation to  presume  that  the  struggles  with  the  new  technique 
are  alone  worthy  of  serious  attention.  It  is  easy  to  neglect 
the  early  period  because  we  know  relatively  little  about  it, 
and  because  it  is  not  always  interesting  to  bother  with  un- 
successful inventions.  The  closing  years  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  on  the  other  hand,  seemed  to  be  more  nearly  related 
to  the  future  than  to  the  past,  until  the  Great  War  made  us 
realize  that  we  have  been  living  through  the  close  of  a  great 
period  in  history. 

It  is  quite  unconventional  to  suggest  that  the  period  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution  should  include  the  whole  of  the  nine- 
teenth century,  but  there  seems  to  be  warrant  The  dose  of 
for  it  in  many  respects.  At  least  some  portion  the  period 
of  this  generation  of  great  achievements  must  needs  be  in- 
cluded in  the  history  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  if  the  nar- 
rative of  the  movement  is  to  have  any  fitting  climax  and 
conclusion.  This  dating  is  thus  defensible  on  artistic 
grounds.  It  is  also  defensible  on  scholarly  grounds.  The 
change  in  the  relative  importance  of  the  metal  trades  is  most 
certainly  a  feature  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  It  is  thus 
reasonable  to  conceive  the  movement  as  incomplete  and  un- 
finished until  this  change  has  taken  place,  and,  as  has  been 
shown  already  by  the  statistics  of  occupations,  the  metal 
trades  do  not  become  fully  coordinate  hi  importance  with 
the  textiles  until  the  close  of  the  last  century.  Both  of  these 
reasons  are  relatively  independent  of  the  occurrence  of  the 
War,  so  that  we  may  feel  some  assurance  in  presuming  that 
the  outbreak  of  the  War  will  serve  naturally  as  the  line  of 
demarcation  in  economic  as  in  political  history. 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  AND  THE  VESTED  INTERESTS 

THE  companies  formed  in  England  and  in  Holland  to  trade 
with  India  ultimately  had  larger  significance  than  the  some- 
what similar  company  of  the  Portuguese,  because  both 
English  and  Dutch  became  connected  with  different  portions 
of  India.  The  Dutch  and  the  English  became  interested  first 
in  the  islands  of  the  Javanese  archipelago  and  the  English 
.  later  became  interested  in  the  easterly  coast  of 

The  cotton  trade 

continental  India,  a  connection  made  peculiarly 
important  because  of  its  relation  to  the  textile  manufactures. 
It  thus  happened  that  a  trade  undertaken  with  reference 
to  spices  came  to  have  a  profound  influence  upon  European 
habits  of  consumption  and  upon  European  industries.  The 
textiles  were  in  the  main  cottons,  but  there  were  also  types 
of  silks  that  had  not  been  manufactured  in  medieval  Europe. 
The  history  of  the  East  India  Company  is  therefore  a  pecu- 
liarly important  chapter  hi  industrial  history  because  it 
brought  about  the  changes  in  the  textile  markets  that  were 
a  fundamental  feature  of  the  Industrial  Revolution. 

During  the  medieval  period  cotton  and  cotton  goods  were 
known  in  Europe,  but  not  generally  used.  Cotton  was  culti- 
Cottoninmedi-  vated  in  Spain  by  the  Moors  and  somemanu- 
evai  Europe  f  actures  of  cotton  were  developed  by  them,  but 
apart  from  their  enterprises  little  cotton  was  grown  within 
the  boundaries  of  Europe  and  little  was  imported.  The 
Venetians  and  Genoese  brought  small  quantities  of  cotton  to 
Europe  which  was  made  into  coarse  fabrics,  usually  mixed 
with  linen.  It  was  this  cotton  manufacture  that  spread 
north  from  Italy  into  Switzerland  and  Austria,  but  at  no 
time  did  this  type  of  textile  become  a  significant  competitor 
of  either  linen  or  silks.  Cotton  manufacture  of  this  general 
type  existed  hi  England  from  an  early  date,  but  few  details 
of  the  history  of  this  industry  are  known  to  us.  These  fab- 
rics were  used  only  by  the  poorer  classes  of  the  population. 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  277 

The  types  of  cotton  goods  now  familiar  to  us  were  produced 
in  India  early  in  the  Christian  era,  and  became  known  to 
Europe  by  repute.  They  were  described  by  Marco  Polo  and 
other  travelers,  but  did  not  enter  into  commerce. 

The  determination  of  the  approximate  date  of  the  signifi- 
cant introduction  of  these  fine  cotton  goods  into  Europe  is 
of  considerable  moment  with  reference  to  the 
influence  of  the  East  India  Company's  com- 
merce upon  English  industry.  The  purpose  of  the  earlier 
Indian  voyages  is  a  matter  of  special  interest.  The  ships 
carried  out  general  cargoes  of  British  and  foreign  goods  and 
brought  back  spices.  Trade  was  largely  confined  to  the  Spice 
Islands.  In  1608  trade  with  continental  India  began.  The 
natives  of  the  Spice  Islands  were  not  particularly  eager  for 
English  goods,  but  were  particularly  anxious  to  get  Indian 
textiles.  The  English  agents  at  Bantam  wrote  home :  "that 
the  cloths  and  calicoes  imported  from  Cambaya  were  in  great 
request  and  if  the  factories  could  be  furnished  with  them 
they  could  be  profitably  exchanged  for  pepper  and  finer 
spices :  the  factors  therefore  recommended  that  a  trade  should 
be  attempted  at  Surat  and  Cambaya;  that  two  ships  should 
be  employed  to  purchase  goods  at  those  ports  to  be  sent  for 
sale  to  Bantam  and  the  Moluccas,  which  would  increase  the 
general  profit  of  the  annual  voyages."  l 

These  recommendations  met  with  the  approval  of  the 
Governors  and  in  1609  the  ships  sent  out  were  instructed  to 
buy  raw  silk,  fine  book  calicoes,  indigo,  cloths,  and  pepper. 
In  September,  1612,  the  first  English  factory  was  established 
on  the  coast  at  Surat,  apparently  to  give  more  stability  to  the 
trade  between  the  coast  and  the  Spice  Islands.  The  textiles 
secured  on  the  continent  were  used  primarily  as  trade  goods 
in  the  Islands,  though  consignments  were  sent  home.  The 
continuance  of  this  system  was  interrupted  by  the  struggle 
with  the  Dutch  for  supremacy  in  the  Spice  Islands.  The 
Dutch  claimed  exclusive  rights  of  trade.  They  had  secured 
points  of  strategic  importance,  and,  backed  by  significant  mili- 
tary force,  they  proposed  to  expel  the  English  from  the  Islands. 
1  Bruce:  Annals,  i,  156. 


278  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  Dutch  projects  culminated  in  the  massacre  at  Am- 
boyna  in  1623.  The  small  English  trading  post  was  raided 
and  all  the  persons  found  there  executed  shortly  after  on 
trumped-up  charges.  It  was  alleged  that  they  were  con- 
spiring against  their  Dutch  neighbors.  The  necessities  of 
European  politics  obliged  the  Dutch  Government  to  make 
promises  of  appropriate  reparation.  Nothing  was  actually 
done  until  the  time  of  Cromwell,  but  the  Dutch  were  forced 
to  abandon  their  monopolistic  claims  and  recognize  the  exist- 
ing situation  in  the  Islands. 

These  events  made  it  clear  to  the  East  India  Company  that 
there  would  be  little  opportunity  of  expansion  in  the  Spice 
The  east-coast  Islands,  and,  while  it  is  difficult  to  be  certain  of 
trade  official  motives,  the  establishments  on  the  east 

coast  seem  to  have  acquired  a  new  importance  after  1630. 
The  trade  begun  at  Surat  hi  1612  was  slow  to  develop  on 
account  of  the  difficulties  of  transport  from  the  interior,  and 
the  famine  of  1630  made  it  impossible  to  secure  cottons  at 
advantageous  prices.  East-coast  goods  could  still  be  pro- 
cured and  the  factories  established  there  came  to  play  a 
greater  part  hi  the  operations  of  the  company.  The  corre- 
spondence of  the  company  and  its  agents  shows  that  there  was 
coming  to  be  a  real  demand  for  Indian  cottons,  and  though 
indigo  continued  to  be  the  chief  importation  from  the  con- 
tinent of  India  the  textiles  came  to  be  something  more  than 
a  superior  kind  of  ballast.1 

The  first  symptoms  of  distress  in  the  woolen  and  silk  indus- 
tries of  England  appear  about  the  time  of  the  Restoration, 
com  etition  anc^  a^owmg  for  the  slackness  of  the  East  In- 
with  woolens  dian  trade  prior  to  the  grant  of  Cromwell's 
charter  to  the  company,  this  pressure  would  be 
essentially  consistent  with  the  development  of  the  trade  of 
the  company.  The  nature  of  the  competition  that  affected 
the  established  industries  was  not  immediately  understood, 
and  the  pamphlet  literature  of  the  period  affords  ample  evi- 

1  The  records  of  the  English  factories  in  India,  now  available  in  print  for 
the  first  half  of  the  seventeenth  century,  make  it  possible  to  trace  the  develop- 
ment of  this  early  trade  in  textiles  in  detail.  Foster,  W. :  The  English  Factories 
in  India  (Oxford,  1906-15);  9  vols. 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  279 

dence  that  the  consciousness  of  trouble  preceded  apprecia- 
tion of  the  underlying  cause  by  a  comfortable  margin.  The 
woolen  interest  was  prompted  to  demand  protection,  but 
even  the  petitioners  were  very  uncertain  as  to  what  the  in- 
dustry was  to  be  protected  from. 

The  first  indication  of  clear  understanding  of  the  menace  of 
the  East  Indian  commerce  appears  in  a  pamphlet  of  1678, 
The  Ancient  Trades  Decayed  and  Repaired  Again. 

inu'     i          i  j  t-i   A  t    •  Diagnosis 

This  loosely  reasoned  pamphlet  contains  a  pas- 
sage which  refers  to  the  changes  in  consumption:  "Instead 
of  green  say,"  the  author  writes,  "that  was  wont  to  be 
used  for  children's  frocks,  is  now  used  painted  and  Indian 
stained  and  striped  calicos;  instead  of  perpetuana  or  shalloon 
to  line  men's  coats  with  is  used  sometimes  a  glazened  calico 
and  sometimes  a  bengal."  A  few  years  later,  in  polemics 
between  Sir  Josiah  Child  and  the  Turkey  Company,  the 
whole  situation  was  further  discussed  and  the  relation  of  the 
East  Indian  trade  to  the  pressure  on  the  English  textile  indus- 
tries clearly  recognized  by  both  sides.  One  may  conclude  that 
the  vogue  of  the  East  Indian  fabrics,  cottons  as  well  as  silks, 
had  become  definitely  established  at  least  as  early  as  1680, 
though  the  more  voluminous  pamphlet  literature  is  at  least  a 
decade  later. 

The  agitation  for  protection  was  carried  on  somewhat  sep- 
arately by  the  silk  and  the  woolen  interests;  and  of  the  two 
groups  the  silk  weavers  were  the  most  active  in  Petitions  for 
the  early  period.  The  protests  against  the  im-  Protection 
portation  of  silks  and  calicoes  by  the  East  India  Company 
were  submitted  to  Parliament  hi  November,  1680,  and, 
though  there  was  some  debate,  nothing  was  done.  This  pe- 
tition of  the  silk  weavers,  however,  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  protective  policy  that  dominated  English  commerce  and 
industry  until  the  establishment  of  free  trade  principles  in  the 
middle  of  the  nineteenth  century.  In  1696-97,  a  bill  was 
introduced  to  prohibit  the  wearing  of  all  East  Indian  and 
Persian  wrought  silks,  bengals,  dyed,  printed,  and  stained 
calicoes.  From  this  date  the  industrial  interests  were  ac- 
tively devoted  to  the  advocacy  of  protective  policies. 


280  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  protective  system  was  founded 

on  principles  that  were  in  nearly  all  respects  different  from 

the  principles  governing  the  policies  of  Colbert. 

Vested  interests  *Z,        % 

The  French  statesman  was  eager  to  foster  new 
industries.  Parliament  in  England  was  accessible  to  almost 
any  suggestion  that  an  established  industry  was  endangered. 
The  English  protective  system,  therefore,  was  specifically 
designed  to  maintain  vested  interests :  it  was  directed  against 
the  great  transformation  of  habits  of  consumption  brought 
about  by  the  trade  with  India. 

Somewhat  has  been  made  of  the  relation  of  these  policies  to 
party  politics.  Professor  Ashley  has  shown  that  the  pro- 
tective policy  was  established  by  the  Whigs,  and 
that  the  Tories,  or  at  least  some  of  them,  advo- 
cated free  trade.  The  tendencies  of  party  politics  admit  of 
relatively  simple  explanation.  The  charter  of  the  East  India 
Company  represented  an  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative  of 
which  Parliament  was  always  jealous.  The  charter  could  be 
defended  only  upon  the  constitutional  assumptions  of  the 
Tories.  The  merchants  interested  in  the  company  were 
originally  Whigs  and  remained  Whigs  until  after  the  Restora- 
tion, though  at  all  times  the  company  had  been  obliged  to 
defend  itself  by  appeal  to  the  more  extended  theories  of  royal 
prerogative.  The  company  had  always  been  dependent  upon 
royal  favor.  Josiah  Child  perceived  the  intimate  depend- 
Poiiticsof  ence  of  the  company  upon  the  predominance 
the  company  Of  Tory  influences  and  at  his  suggestion  the  pol- 
itics of  the  company  were  definitely  changed,  though  not 
without  a  serious  conflict  among  the  directors.  In  the  latter 
part  of  the  seventeenth  century,  therefore,  the  Tories  were 
the  supporters  of  the  East  India  Company  and  the  Whigs  its 
opponents.  This  alignment  of  parties,  however,  was  more 
largely  due  to  personal  and  constitutional  considerations 
than  to  any  conscious  thought  of  the  merits  of  free  trade  and 
protection. 

The  problem  of  commercial  policy  had  occupied  a  con- 
spicuous place  in  political  discussion  throughout  the  seven- 
teenth century,  and,  in  a  casual  way,  the  doctrines  associated 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  281 

with  the  mercantile  theory  appeared  in  the  discussion.  The 
harrow  formulation  of  mercantilism  by  Adam  Smith  has 
effectively  concealed  the  actual  complexity  of  motives  that 
underlay  discussions  of  policy  in  this  period.  Consideration 
of  the  East  Indian  trade  involved  all  the  larger  problems  of 
commercial  policy,  and  with  a  few  exceptions  the  polemical 
literature  connected  with  the  East  India  Company  covered 
the  entire  discussion. 

Some  of  the  notable  mercantilistic  fallacies  were  closely 
associated  with  some  incidental  features  of  the  trade  of  the 
company.  This  is  particularly  true  of  the  Export  of 
alleged  identification  of  money  with  wealth  by  buUion 
mercantilistic  writers.  The  East  India  Company  did  indeed 
export  considerable  quantities  of  coin  and  bullion,  and  this 
export  of  bullion  was  the  subject  of  much  criticism  during 
the  first  half  of  the  century.  Malynes's  pamphlet,  The 
Canker  of  England's  Commonwealth  (1601),  presents  this  criti- 
cism. The  same  ideas  appeared  in  a  number  of  later  pam- 
phlets, none  of  them  quite  as  famous  as  the  first.  This  objec- 
tion, however,  was  decisively  answered  by  Thomas  Mun, 
whose  reply  contained  a  significant  analysis  of  the  mechan- 
ism of  international  payments.  The  form  of  presentation  is 
unfortunate,  as  systematic  exposition  was  subordinated  to 
the  polemical  necessities  of  the  moment,  but  all  the  essential 
features  of  the  modern  theory  were  embodied  hi  Mun's 
statement. 

Mun's  first  pamphlet  appeared  in  1621 ;  in  1628  he  wrote 
the  petition  and  remonstrance  submitted  to  Parliament  by 
the  company.  This  last  document  contains  the  , 
essential  material  of  the  most  famous  of  his 
writings,  the  pamphlet,  England's  Treasure  by  her  Forraign 
Trade,  which  was  written  in  its  final  form  immediately  after- 
ward, but  not  published  until  1664.  The  significant  feature 
of  Mun's  writings  is  the  clear  consciousness  that  mpney  is  not 
wealth,  and  the  recognition  of  the  inaccuracy  of  the  phrase 
"balance  of  trade."  As  hi  modern  treatises,  the  movement 
of  specie  between  countries  is  ascribed  to  a  number  of  debit 
and  credit  items  of  which  the  trade  balances  are  only  one 


282  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

among  several.  Some  of  the  items  specifically  suggested  by 
Mun  are:  charges  for  shipping  services,  expenses  of  foreign 
wars,  remittances  to  foreign  countries  by  priests  and  Jesuits, 
travelers'  expenses,  ambassadors'  expenses,  gifts  to  strangers, 
and  the  like.  There  is  thus  in  Mun's  work  the  same  concep- 
tion of  a  balance  of  indebtedness  that  is  the  basis  of  the  mod- 
ern theory  of  foreign  exchange.  We  cannot  be  entirely  cer- 
tain of  the  impression  made  by  these  writings,  but  on  the 
whole  one  may  well  question  the  existence  of  serious  confu- 
sion between  money  and  wealth  hi  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  and  the  doctrine  of  the  "balance  of 
trade"  was  certainly  of  subordinate  importance  in  the  last 
half  of  the  century.  It  did  not  dominate  the  thought  of  the 
more  important  writers. 

When  the  first  effects  of  competition  with  these  Indian 
textiles  began  to  be  felt,  the  writers  most  closely  associated 
Balance  of  with  the  woolen  interests  were  disposed  to  find 
trade  the  explanation  of  the  distress  in  the  competition 

with  France.  The  pamphlet  of  Samuel  Fortrey,  England's 
Interest  and  Improvement  (1663),  is  fairly  typical  of  this  view. 
English  manufacturers  were  represented  as  being  at  a  disad- 
vantage with  French  industries  and  some  attempt  was  made 
to  prove  that  France  was  a  source  of  trouble  by  casting  up 
a  balance  of  trade  between  France  and  England.  In  so  far 
as  the  balance-of -trade  doctrine  appears  in  this  controversy 
it  is  in  connection  with  this  allegation  of  danger  from  com- 
petition with  France.  When  it  came  to  be  understood  that 
the  real  difficulty  was  to  be  attributed  to  the  East  Indian 
commerce  the  balance-of-trade  doctrine  was  largely  aban- 
doned by  the  pamphleteers,  to  be  revived  for  a  brief  tune 
when  the  commercial  clauses  of  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  were 
under  discussion  in  1713.  The  substantive  protective  meas- 
ures were  based  on  the  alleged  necessity  of  protecting  "  vested 
interests." 

The  significance  of  the  woolen  industry  in  the  minds  of 
The  Methuen  contemporaries  is  indicated  further  by  the  im- 
Treaty  portance  attached  to  the  Methuen  Treaty  of 

1702.  Portugal  was  presumed  to  be  a  singularly  important 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  283 

market  for  woolens,  partly  because  Portugal  was  dependent 
upon  imports  for  her  domestic  consumption  and  partly  be- 
cause of  the  exports  of  goods  to  the  Portuguese  colonies. 
Both  France  and  England  were  anxious  to  secure  this  market, 
and  it  was  felt  to  be  a  matter  of  first-rate  importance  that 
England  should  secure  preferences.  Accordingly,  England 
granted  preferences  to  Portuguese  wines  at  a  very  substantial 
sacrifice.  The  Portuguese  wines  were  always  to  pay  one  third 
less  duty  than  the  like  quantity  of  French  wines.  British 
consumption,  up  to  that  time,  had  favored  the  French  prod- 
ucts; these  preferences  of  the  Methuen  Treaty,  however,  cur- 
tailed legitimate  trade  in  French  wines  and  brandies,  and  led 
to  the  well-known  smuggling  trade  that  flourished  until  the 
early  nineteenth  century. 

The  European  problem  was  brought  up  again  in  1713  by 
the  conferences  upon  the  commercial  clauses  of  the  Treaty 
of  Utrecht.  The  conclusion  of  the  treaty  with 


France  would  have  required  the  abandonment  of  treaty  with 
the  policy  of  protecting  the  woolen  industry. 
The  issue  that  was  joined  with  reference  to  this  measure  was 
thus  curiously  interwoven  with  the  controversy  that  had  long 
centered  around  the  East  India  Company.  The  persistent 
dread  of  French  competition  was  a  heritage  from  the  early 
misunderstandings  of  the  nature  of  the  pressure  from  which 
the  woolen  industry  had  suffered  for  many  years.  The  de- 
cision of  the  issue  turned  in  no  small  measure  upon  general 
political  considerations.  The  Whigs,  who  were  incidentally 
protectionists,  were  on  the  whole  the  predominant  party,  and 
the  menace  of  a  Jacobite  restoration  proved  to  be  a  funda- 
mental source  of  weakness  to  the  Tories.  The  problems  of 
commercial  policy  became  a  party  issue  when  the  highest 
stakes  of  politics  overshadowed  all  minor  issues.  The  litera- 
ture on  these  commercial  questions  consequently  seems  bar- 
ren and  meaningless,  for  the  ultimate  decision  was  only  casu- 
ally affected  by  the  merits  of  the  discussion.  The  action 
taken  undoubtedly  tended  to  conceal  the  considerable  amount 
of  good  free-trade  thought  to  be  found  hi  the  writings  of  the 
defenders  of  the  East  India  Company. 


384  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

In  view  of  the  general  victory  of  the  protectionists  in  1703 
and  1713  it  may  seem  strange  that  the  demands  for  protec- 
Succcssfui  re-  ^on  agams*  the  East  Indian  fabrics  did  not  meet 
sistance  of  with  more  success.  Bills  that  advocated  com- 
plete prohibition  of  all  importation  of  East  Indian 
goods  were  introduced  into  Parliament  as  early  as  1697,  but 
none  of  the  measures  passed.  The  company  was  ably  de- 
fended at  that  time  by  Charles  D'Avenant  whose  essay  on  the 
East  Indian  trade  was  inspired  by  the  bill.  The  essay  shows 
a  clear  perception  of  the  general  benefits  of  free  trade,  and 
many  of  the  specific  allegations  of  the  woolen  manufacturers 
were  successfully  answered.  Although  the  general  prohibi- 
tion was  not  approved,  some  concession  was  made  to  the  silk 
manufacturers,  partial  protection  being  afforded  by  the  Acts 
of  1697  and  1700.  In  all  probability  the  tenderness  with 
which  the  East  India  Company  was  handled  was  chiefly  due 
to  the  large  sums  of  money  that  had  been  lent  to  the  Govern- 
ment. The  ultimate  financial  relations  between  the  Govern- 
ment and  the  company  are  probably  the  real  explanation  of 
the  incomplete  success  of  the  protectionist  group. 

The  agitation  of  the  woolen  interests  continued  and  began 

to  assume  an  acute  phase  in  1719.    This  finally  resulted  in 

the  passage  of  the  Calico  Act  of  1721,  "an  act 

The  Calico  Act 

to  preserve  and  encourage  the  woolen  and  silk 
manufactures  and  for  the  more  satisfactory  employment  of 
the  poor,  by  prohibiting  the  use  and  wear  of  all  printed, 
painted,  flowered  or  dyed  calicoes  in  apparel,  household 
stuffs,  furniture  or  otherwise"  after  December  25,  1722. 
This  act  made  it  unlawful  for  any  person  to  use  or  wear  any 
calicoes  under  penalty  of  forfeiting  £5  to  the  informer  and 
paying  a  fine  of  £20.  Merchants  were  not  allowed  to  sell  any 
calicoes,  or  any  furniture  upholstered  with  calicoes.  There 
were  some  exceptions,  but  it  is  not  easy  to  appreciate  their 
exact  nature. 

The  extension  of  the  act  to  goods  partially  made  of  cotton 
was  of  serious  moment  to  such  cotton  manufacture  as  then 
existed  in  England.  Somewhat  later,  when  the  native  cotton 
industry  began  to  assume  larger  proportions,  an  attempt  was 


THE  EAST  INDIA  COMPANY  285 

made  to  enforce  the  act  against  the  domestic  production  of 
cotton  goods.    This  resulted  in  appeal  to  Parliament  by  the 
cotton  manufacturers,  and,  as  they  also  constituted  a  "  vested 
interest,"  they  secured  relief .     The  Manchester  The  Man- 
Act  was  passed  in  1735,  providing  that  the  <*»•*«** 
Calico  Act  should  not  be  interpreted  to  prevent  the  wearing 
or  use  of  any  stuff  of  linen  yarn  and  cotton  wool  manufac- 
tured and  printed  or  painted  with  any  color  or  colors.    This 
statute  covered  the  coarser  fabrics  that  had  long  been  made 
in  England.    There  were  thus  exemptions  to  cover  some  of 
the  Indian  products  and  the  domestic  goods  which  were  con- 
stantly being  improved  under  the  stimulus  of  the  new  de- 
mands. 
The  protective  system  was  thus  developed  with  the  ex- 

*l  '          ^^^  i         _.    i  ^  -- 

phcitpuTDOse  of  ™«"ntiainmpr  the  woolen  industries,  but  in 
accomplishing  this  end  jhe  home  market  was  so  Expectations 
thoroughly  protected  against  competitipnwith  and  results 
^British  India  that  significant  opportunities  were  created 
&  nativecotton  industry.  Th^sec^pcTfctniMes  were  empha- 
sized by  the  exemptions.  A  calico  printing  industry  became 
established  in  England  at  an  early  date.  The  importation 
of  white  goods  seems  to  have  been  possible  at  all  times. 
East  Indian  yarn  was  imported,  and  muslins,  neck-cloths,  and 
other  exempted  goods  were  manufactured  in  England. 
Although  the  detailed  history  of  this  drastic  statute  is  un- 
certain, and  the  effect  of  its  prohibitions  qualified  by  smug- 
gling, there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  these  protective  meas- 
ures were  ultimately  more  significant  to  the  infant  cotton 
industry  than  to  the  "vested  interests"  of  the  woolen  manu- 
facture. 

There  are  few  instances  in  history  of  so  great  a  discrep- 
ancy between  expectations  and  results. 
jhe  beginning  of  the  eighteenth  century  were  very 
to  further  the  commercial  advantage  of  England  as  against 
France.  They  presumed  that  this  could  be  done  only  by 
protecting  the  woolen  industry  from  the  joint  competition  of 
France  and  the  East  Indian  trade.  The  industrial  supremacy 
did  hi  fact  pass  from  France  to  England  in  the  course  of  the 


286  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

century,  but  in  an  entirely  unexpected  manner.  The  de- 
velopment of  the  cotton  industry  in  England  under  the 
An  infant  shelter  of  protection  was  an  event  of  the  first 
industry  magnitude,  and,  though  the  annals  of  invention 

generally  distract  our  attention  from  these  matters  of  com- 
mercial policy,  the  significance  of  protection  to  the  growing 
cotton  industry  cannot  be  overlooked.  The  Calico  Act  was 
not  repealed  until  1774,  when  it  actually  began  to  stand  in 
the  way  of  the  expansion  of  the  English  cotton  industry. 
It  is  a  strange  coincidence  that  Crompton's  invention  should 
have  followed  so  closely.  The  mule  made  it  possible  for  the 

*^*  --"' — •*a>"*^^^— 1|  M^^a»*^»»F~~*^^^"""^^^""^^^^  *     ***  t\ 

English  manufacturers  to  compete  with  East  India,  not 
merely  in  printing  and  finishing,  but  in  spinning  all  grades  of 
yarn.  The  industry  was  thus  freed  and  made  independent 
of  a  protecting  influence  only  when  it  had  attained  a  definite 
mechanical  superiority. 

It  would  be  too  much  to  say  that  the  cotton  industry  was 
created  by  protection,  but  the  cotton  industry  was  certainly 
the  outcome  of  a  demand  for  cottons  created  by  the  East 
Indian  trade  which  was  partially  obstructed  by  protective 
measures.  If  the  demand  for  cottons  could  have  been  con- 
tinuously gratified  by  importation  from  India  it  is  hard  to 
believe  that  the  English  cotton  industry  could  have  made  as 
favorable  a  growth.  Protective  measures  were  thus  a  part 
of  a  highly  complex  situation.  The  woolen  industries  gained 
some  temporary  relief  from  competition  with  cottons,  but  in 
the  end  the  domestic  cotton  industry  was  able  to  compete 
more  keenly  and  disastrously  than  any  foreign  industry  could 
have  done.  We  are  probably  only  now  witnessing  the  final 
readjustments  of  the  textile  trades  to  the  changes  that  began 
hi  the  seventeenth  century  with  the  introduction  of  the  East 
Indian  cottons  into  Europe. 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


THE  changes  in  the  habits  of  consumption  that  followed 
the  introduction  of  East  Indian  cottons  into  Europe  laid  the 
foundations  of  a  new  cotton  industry,  but  the 

...  iioi-  The  inventions 

development  of  an  industry  capable  ot  dominat- 
ing all  branches  of  the  cotton  trade  was  made  possible  only 
by  a  complete  technical  transformation  of  the  old  hand  proc- 
esses of  manufacture.  The  inventions  were  not  the  original 
cause  of  the  changes  in  the  industry,  but  they  were  essential 
to  the  full  realization  of  the  new  opportunities.  The  com- 
manding success  of  some  of  the  inventions  and  the  obscurity 
of  the  early  history  of  the  first  attempts  to  apply  mechanism 
to  this  industry  have  fostered  the  natural  disposition  to  pre- 
sume that  the  achievement  of  mechanical  technique  was 
accomplished  without  any  considerable  struggle.  It  is  fre- 
quently suggested  or  implied  that  the  history  of  the  Great 
Inventions  differs  in  this  respect  from  the  ordinary  course 
of  mechanical  development.  But  this  is  an  error.  Inventions 
in  the  cotton  industry  as  hi  other  fields  of  enterprise  were 
achieved  only  after  appreciable  efforts  and  the  full  signi- 
cance  of  the  new  devices  was  realized  only  after  a  consider- 
able number  of  complementary  inventions  had  been  applied  to 
the  perfection  of  the  original  machines.  The  early  machines 
were  a  great  advance  over  hand  processes,  but  for  more  than 
a  generation  important  mechanical  improvements  were  made 
in  their  construction  and  operation.  The  transformation  of 
the  industry  was  not  really  sudden  and  violent  as  was  alleged 
by  the  earlier  writers  on  the  Industrial  Revolution. 

The  first  successes  of  inventors  were  with  spinning  machin- 
ery, and  the  entire  process  of  spinning  was, 

'  *  _. ft •! — "— —          Spinning 

brought  within  the  scope  of  machinery  long  be- 
"fore  weaving  by  the  power  loom  was  at  all  practical.   Spin- 


288  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ning  had  become  specialized  into  three  stages  before  the  in- 
troduction of  machines.  The  cleansed  cotton  fibers  were 
carded  and  reduced  to  an  orderly  parallel  arrangement  in  a 
ribbon  or  sliver.  The  sliver  was  then  formed  into  a  loosely 
twisted  strand,  so  weak  that  further  drawing  and  twisting 
was  necessary  before  it  could  be  used  in  weaving.  The 
intermediate  product  was  termed  "rovings"  to  distinguish 
it  from  the  finished  yarn.  The  process  of  spinning,  though 
lengthy  and  somewhat  specialized,  involved  only  two  types 
of  operations :  the  carding  of  the  cotton  fibers,  and  the  draw- 
ing and  twisting  that  was  repeated  several  times  in  the 
course  of  preparing  yarn  or  thread. 

The  development  of  carding  machines  was  the  work  of  the 
inventors  of  spinning  machines,  and  there  is  a  rough  identity 
carding  in  certain  of  the  mechanical  principles  used. 

All  the  machines  utilized  cylindrical  rollers,  but 
the  form  and  character  of  the  rolls  were  by  necessity  adapted 
to  the  somewhat  different  purposes  to  which  they  were 
applied.  The  problems  of  carding  were  in  general  relatively 
simple,  though  the  details  of  the  process  admitted  of  much 
refinement  in  the  technical  details. 

Spinning  involved  a  number  of  serious  problems,  and  two 
distinct  types  of  machines  were  ultimately  produced  which 
were  possessed  of  such  varied  merits  that  both  types  have 
always  been  employed  in  the  industry.  The  bobbin  and  fly 
frame  system  of  the  throstle  proved  to  be  particularly  well 
adapted  to  the  preparation  of  rovings,  so  that  the  intermedi- 
ate processes  have  been  dominated  by  this  type  of  machine. 
The  coarser  yarns  can  also  be  spun  with  this  type  of  machine, 
but  the  finer  yarns  can  be  spun  only  on  the  mule. 

These  two  spinning  machines  are  based  on  essentially  dif- 
ferent principles.  Throstle  spinning  is  usually  termed  the 
continuous  and  continuous  proces^'^'uIe^spinnmg,^:G5e  mter=" 
intermittent  injttent  process.  On  the  tnrosile  all  phases  of 
the  process  proceed  simultaneously  and  contin- 
uously: drawing,  twisting,  and  reeling  on  the  bobbins.  The 
mule  forms  the  thread  during  the  run  of  the  carriage  away 
from  the  rolls,  accomplishing  the  drawing  and  twisting  at  the 


The  throstle 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 

same  time,  but  the  reeling  of  the  finished  yarn  upon  the  bob- 
bin is  accomplished  during  the  return  of  the  carriage  toward 
the  rolls,  so  that  actual  spinning  is  intermittent. 

The  continuous  process  was  first  to  be_dejgelop££l;  It 
represents  in  many  ways  a  particularly  brilliant  mechanical 
accomplishment,  for  it  departs  in  all  its  details 
from  the  processes  of  spinning  on  the  hand 
wheel.  The  essential  feature  of  this  process  is  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  drawing-out  of  the  sliver  or  roving  by 
passing  it  through  a  series  of 
rollers  revolving  at  different 
speeds .  The  ad j  oining  sectional 
view  of  Arkwright's  spinning 
frame^ illustrates  the  arrange- 
ment  of  the  machine  in  a  some- 
what unproved  form.  There 
are  four  pairs  of  rollers,  A  A. 
The  upper  rolls  are  kept  in  con- 
tact with  the  lower  rolls  by  the 
weights,  B  B,  and,  supposing 
the  rolls  numbered  from  left  to 
right,  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  pairs  each  revolve  more 
rapidly  than  the  preceding  pan-. 
The  sliver  or  roving  was  thus 
drawn  out  in  the  course  of  its 
passage  through  the  rolls  to  a 
degree  of  fineness  that  could  be 
regulated  by  variations  in  the 
speed  of  the  rolls.  Leaving  the 

rolls,  the  sliver  or  roving  passed  downward  to  the  flyer  and 
bobbin  receiving  the  twist  necessary  to  form  it  into  yarn  by 
reason  of  the  rotation  of  the  flyer,  C.  The  finished  yarn  was 
reeled  upon  the  bobbin,  D,  by  reason  of  a  difference  in  speed 
between  the  flyer  and  the  bobbin.  It  is  possible  to  accom- 
plish this  part  of  the  process  either  by  driving  the  bobbin 
faster  than  the  flyer  and  thus  drawing  the  yarn  from  the 
flyer  to  the  bobbin,  or  by  driving  the  flyer  faster  than  the 


FIG.  1.  THE  THROSTLE 


290  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

bobbin  so  that  the  yarn  would  be  deposited  upon  the  bobbin. 
It  will  be  obvious  that  the  machine  will  either  produce  rov- 
ings  from  slivers  of  carded  cotton,  or  finished  yarn  from 
rovings. 
The  distinctive  feature  of  the  throstle  lies  in  the  successive 


accomplishment  of  drawing  and  twisting.  This  results  in 
subjecting  the  sliver  or  roving  to  its  chief  strain  and' tension 
before  it  has  received  the  twist  which  imparts  strength.  It 
was  thus  found  to  be  especially  desirable  to  pass  the  cotton 
successively  through  several  machines  so  that  some  twisting 
was  done  before  all  the  drawing  was  accomplished.  The 
specialization  that  already  existed  between  the  preparation 
of  rovings  and  the  finishing  of  the  yarn  was  thus  gradually 
carried  farther,  and  the  quality  of  yarn  considerably  im- 
proved by  better  management  of  the  machines.  But  even 
when  the  throstle  is  most  carefully  used,  it  is 

Its  limitations       .  .  j          * 

incapable  of  producing  the  finer  grades  of  yarn. 
It  is  not  possible  entirely  to  avoid  the  effects  of  performing 
the  drawing  independently  of  and  prior  to  the  twisting. 

Yarn  is  graded  in  terms  of  the  number  of  hanks  per  pound. 
The  hank  represents  a  standard  length  so  that  differences  in 
weight  are  in  fact  indices  of  the  fineness  of  the  yarn.  The 
number  of  hanks  per  pound  is  technically  called  the  "  count" 
of  the  yarn.  Now  the  throstle  is  effective  for  counts  up  to 
forty,  though  there  is  some  competition  between  the  mule  and 
the  throstle  in  spinning  forties.  The  mule,  on  the  other 
hand,  now  produces  counts  for  general  commerce  as  high 
as  three  hundred  and  fifty,  and  for  exhibition  purposes  some 
very  extraordinary  achievements  have  been  accomplished. 

The  first  use  of  rollers  in  spinning  was  the  joint  work  of 

two  men,  Wyatt  and  Paul,  whose  separate  contributions  to 

the  inventions  cannot  now  be  very  successfully 

Wyatt's  claims  .  / 

ascertained.  It  is  alleged  by  Wyatt  s  son,  in 
testimony  given  as  late  as  1817,  that  his  father-  was  the  real 
inventor  of  the  process.  "  In  the  year  1730,"  he  says,  "  living 
then  at  Litchfield,  my  father  first  conceived  the  project  and 
prepared  to  carry  it  into  effect,  and  hi  the  year  1733,  by  a 
model  of  about  two  feet  square,  in  a  small  building  near 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  291 

Sutton  Coldfield  without  a  single  witness,  was  spun  the  first 
thread  without  the  intervention  of  human  fingers.  .  .  .  The 
cotton  wool  had  been  carded  in  the  common  way  and  was 
passed  between  two  cylinders  from  whence  the  bobbin  drew 
it  by  means  of  two  distaffs."  Wyatt,  himself,  in  two  letters, 
claims  credit  for  the  invention,  but  not  sole  credit.  He  says, 
in  1741,  "  the  engine  owed  the  condition  it  was  thus  hi  to  the 
superintendency  of  John  Wyatt."  In  another  letter  he  says, 
"I  am  the  person  who  was  the  principal  agent  in  compiling 
the  spinning  engine."  According  to  his  account,  hopes  of 
securing  financial  support  induced  him  to  enter  into  partner- 
ship with  Lewis  Paul,  a  foreigner  more  capable  of  making 
promises  than  of  carrying  them  out.  It  is  implied  that  Paul 
secured  so  great  an  ascendancy  over  Wyatt  that  the  patent 
finally  taken  out  in  1758  stood  in  Paul's  name.  The  acquisi- 
tion of  patent  rights  in  this  machine  and  the  invention  of  other 
machines  by  Paul  constitute  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  claims 
made  by  Wyatt  and  his  son. 

The  relations  between  Wyatt  and  Paul  are  most  ade- 
quately revealed  by  Paul's  will  and  the  letters  addressed  to 
him  by  various  correspondents.  From  this  evi-  Relations 
dence  it  is  possible  to  reconstruct  a  fairly  plaiisi-  ^^  Paul 
ble  account  of  the  relations  between  the  two  men.  Paul  was 
an  inventor  of  small  means  engaged,  when  we  first  hear  of 
him,  in  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  an  instrument  for  pink- 
ing crepes  and  tammies  for  burying  cloths.  Wyatt  was  a  car- 
penter, who  did  some  work  for  Paul  on  the  spinning  machine. 
Wyatt  was  apparently  better  supplied  with  funds  than  Paul, 
for  the  latter  became  indebted  to  him  for  £800.  In  the  fall 
of  1741  Wyatt  was  working  on  the  carding  machine  more  or 
less  under  the  direction  of  Paul,  though  he  made  a  number  of 
suggestions  and  improvements.  The  following  spring  Wyatt 
found  himself  in  need  of  money  and  made  a  determined 
attempt  to  force  Paul  to  pay  his  debts.  The  bills  were  put 
into  the  hands  of  an  attorney,  but  Paul  was  practically  bank- 
rupt. Wyatt  recognized  the  necessity  of  compromise.  In 
a  letter  of  March,  1742,  he  says,  "The  money  is  what  I  want, 
or  at  least  what  would  please  me  best  at  present,  but  to  be 


292  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

plain,  I  am  in  some  doubt  of  having  money  from  Mr.  Paul, 
and,  if  spindles  must  at  last  be  my  share,  I  would  be  willing 
to  have  as  many  as  would  attach  my  sole  attending."  Wyatt 
was  given  three  hundred  spindles.  The  papers  going  with 
them  suggest  that  the  work  of  designing  the  machine  was 
essentially  Paul's.  The  deed  for  the  spindles  was  accom- 
panied by  a  covenant  in  which  Paul  agreed  "to  turn  over  the 
plans  for  erecting  the  spindles,  which  he,  Lewis  Paul,  hath 
gone  by,  and  to  give  Wyatt,  his  agent  or  his  workman,  such 
further  instructions  for  the  erecting,  making,  and  perfecting 
of  the  said  machines  as  shall  be  requisite  and  needful." 

It  is  fairly  clear  that  the  initial  impulse  came  from  Paul, 
although  it  is  possible  that  many  suggestions  were  made  by 
Wyatt  in  the  course  of  executing  Paul's  designs.  It  is  by  no 
means  inconceivable  that  a  craftsman  of  Wyatt 's  caliber 
should  have  an  exaggerated  notion  of  the  importance  of  his 
contributions,  and  such  presumptions  would  cover  most  of 
the  discrepancies  in  the  various  accounts. 

In  August,  1748,  Paul  took  out  a  patent  for  a  carding  ma- 
chine, and  in  1758  a  second  patent  for  a  spinning  machine, 
which  is  accompanied  by  fairly  complete  draw- 

Paul's  patents      .  J 

ings.  It  is  a  reasonable  presumption  that  this 
spinning  machine  was  no  more  than  a  development  of  the 
earlier  machine  on  which  Wyatt  and  Paul  were  working  in 
the  thirties.  The  wording  of  the  text  of  the  earlier  patent 
indicates  no  essential  difference  in  principle,  so  that  the  speci- 
fications of  1758  may  be  regarded  as  representative  of  the 
earliest  device  for  combining  rolls  with  the  flyer  and  bobbin. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  drawings  are  incomplete.  The 
rolls  and  flyer  which  are  shown  in  profile  give  the  essential 
mechanical  features  of  the  machine,  but  there  is  no  indication 
of  the  method  for  feeding  the  sliver  or  roving  into  the  rolls. 

The  general  form  of  the  machine,  too,  makes  it 

Probable  defect      ,.,-.,.         .          .  .     ,     ,  ,,.         .   ,,  , 

difficult  to  imagine  precisely  how  this  might  be 
accomplished.  So  far  as  one  can  judge  by  the  drawings,  the 
functions  of  the  rolls  were  different  from  their  later  functions 
in  the  developed  throstle.  There  was  only  one  pair  of  rollers, 
so  that  the  drawing-out  of  the  roving  was_  accomplished  by 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


293 


tension  between  the  rolls  and  the  flyer,  instead  of  being  the 
work  of  different  pairs  of  rolls.  The  motion  of  the  flyer  thus 
accomplished  the  double  task  of  drawing  and  twisting  the 
roving.  The  separation  of  the  drawing  and  twisting  which 


FIG.  2.  PAUL'S  SPINNING  MACHINE,  1758 

became  characteristic  of  this  general  type  of  machine  does 
not  appear  in  this  early  form.  The  description  of  the  process, 
as  "  spinning  by  rollers,"  used  by  Paul,  is  not  accurate. 

In  Arkwright's  machine  there  were  at  least  two  pairs  of 
rolls  revolving  at  different  speeds  so  that  the  drawing-out  of 
the  roving  was  accomplished  between  the  rolls;  the  partially 
finished  yarn  was  thus  subjected  to  no  appreciable  tension 
between  the  rolls  and  the  flyer.  Without  more  positive  evi- 
dence we  can  only  surmise,  but  it  would  seem  likely  that  the 
commercial  failure  of  Paul's  machine  was  due  to  the  excessive 
strain  placed  upon  the  roving  by  his  neglect  of  the  possibility 
of  accomplishing  the  drawing-out  process  by  means  of  rolls. 
At  the  same  time  it  is  no  more  than  just  to  his  memory  to 
say  that  he  conceived  the  general  principles  of  spinning  by 
machinery. 


294  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

In  1741  a  mill  was  erected  at  Birmingham,  supplied  with 
motive  power  by  a  winch  worked  by  two  asses.  Ten  girls 
The  first  were  employed.  This  establishment  was  not 

spinning  mm  supported  with  sufficient  funds  and  was  aban- 
doned in  1743.  A  larger  establishment  was  set  up  at  North- 
ampton with  access  to  water-power.  These  works  had  two 
hundred  and  fifty  spindles  and  employed  fifty  hands.  They 
were  financed  by  Mr.  Cave,  the  friend  of  Dr.  Johnson,  and 
to  the  best  of  our  knowledge  these  works  were  operated  for 
twenty  or  thirty  years.  There  are  reasons  to  believe  that 
Arkwright  actually  saw  this  mill  at  Northampton,  but  it  is 
not  possible  to  prove  either  the  nature  or  the  extent  of  Ark- 
wright 's  familiarity  with  Paul's  accomplishment. 

Before  Arkwright's  perfection  of   the  water-frame  other 

inventors  worked  on  the  spinning  problem.    The  Society  of 

Arts  offered  prizes  for  a  spinning  machine,  and 

Highs's  story  .  f  .  . 

a  number  of  machines  were  submitted  to  its 
committee  between  1761  and  1767.  Most  of  these  projects 
were  of  no  substantial  significance,  but  the  efforts  of  one 
Highs  (Hayes)  were  of  real  importance.  At  the  trial  of  the 
patent  cases  in  1785  Highs  declared  that  he  made  rollers  for 
the  spinning  of  cotton  in  1767,  two  years  before  Arkwright's 
patent  was  taken  out.  He  did  not  follow  up  his  invention  for 
want  of  money.  It  was  represented  only  by  a  model  which 
had  been  made  for  him  by  a  clock-maker  named  Kay.  This 
clock-maker  called  Arkwright's  attention  to  the  matter,  and 
his  knowledge  of  the  model  of  Highs  seems  to  have  been  the 
beginning  of  the  water-frame,  if  not  the  actual  basis  of  the 
design. 

Arkwright  had  been  brought  up  to  the  trade  of  a  barber. 
He  had  little  or  no  education,  but  seems  to  have  been  aggres- 
sive and  alert.    Discovery  of  a  chemical  process 
for  dyeing  hair  led  to  the  abandonment  of  the 
general  practice  of  his  craft  for  the  allied  occupation  of  wig- 
making.    Much  of  his  time  was  spent  in  collecting  hair  at 
county  fairs.    He  alleges  that  the  years  following  1761  were 
spent  hi  experiments  with  spinning  machinery,  but  there  is 
more  reason  to  believe  that  he  continued  his  wig-making 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  295 

until  1767  when  he  fell  in  with  Kay  at  Warrington.    Kay 
told  him  of  Highs's  machine  and  agreed  to  make  a  model. 

Arkwright  abandoned  his  former  business  and  set  to  work 
on  the  spinning  problem,  apparently  as  much  from  the  point 
of  view  of  a  business  man  as  an  inventor.  As  Kay  was  un- 
able to  make  all  the  parts,  the  services  of  a  smith  and  a 
watch-toolmaker  were  secured.  Arkwright  went  to  his  old 
home,  Preston,  to  raise  money  for  the  undertaking.  He  suc- 
ceeded in  interesting  a  liquor-dealer  named  Smalley,  and  a 
demonstration  was  given  in  the  parlor  of  the  Free  Grammar 
School.  Smalley  was  much  impressed,  but  fear  of  rioting 
induced  them  to  move  to  Nottingham.  Through  Smalley's 
influence  funds  were  obtained  from  local  bank-  The  water- 
ers,  but  their  support  was  withdrawn  when  un-  frame 
expected  difficulties  delayed  the  perfection  of  the  machine. 
However,  this  support  was  not  withdrawn  until  Arkwright 
and  his  project  had  been  commended  to  the  attention  of  Need 
and  Strutt,  machine-makers.  Strutt  was  a  mechanician,  so 
that  his  study  of  the  model  resulted  in  a  number  of  help- 
ful suggestions.  The  machine  was  finished  and  patented 
in  1769. 

A  mill  was  set  up  at  Nottingham  driven  by  horse-power, 
but  water-power  was  found  to  be  more  practicable  and  a 
larger  mill  was  established  at  Cromford  in  1771.  The  new 
Three  years  later,  after  an  expenditure  of  industry 
£12,000,  some  profits  began  to  be  realized.  The  mill  became 
fairly  successful,  but  other  manufacturers  refused  to  buy  yarn 
of  Arkwright,  and  it  proved  to  be  necessary  to  find  means  of 
using  the  product  of  the  mill.  The  partners  began  the  manu- 
facture of  stockings  and  turned  later  to  the  weaving  of  cali- 
coes. Their  rivals  complained  to  the  excise  officials  on  the 
ground  that  these  calicoes  were  made  in  contravention  of  the 
Calico  Act.  A  considerable  stock  of  goods  accumulated  *nd 
the  partners  went  to  Parliament  for  relief,  securing  the  repeal 
of  the  act  despite  the  strong  lobby  run  by  the  Lancashire 
manufacturers .  Although^  j^kwrightjcould  har dly_bj3  jcajled, 
the  inventor  of  the  spinning  machine,  he  must  be  recognized 
as  thefounder  of  themodern English  cotton~industry.^ 


296  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  neighboring  manufacturers  began  to  build  and  use  the 
machines;  all  the  Arkwright  machines,  carding,  drawing,  and 
n  suits  roving  machines  as  well  as  the  spinning  frame. 
Arkwright  finally  brought  nine  suits,  and  the 
manufacturers  formed  an  association  to  defend  the  cases, 
one  of  which  was  selected  for  trial.  The  defense  of  the  manu- 
facturers was  that  the  specifications  were  so  obscure  that 
there  was  a  manifest  effort  to  withhold  knowledge  of  the 
machine.  Mechanics  were  produced  who  swore  that  the 
machine  could  not  be  built  from  the  specifications  in  the 
patent.  Both  judge  and  jury  agreed  upon  setting  the  patent 
aside  (1781).  The  case  was  brought  up  again  upon  appeal. 
The  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas  expressed 
an  opinion  that  was  favorable  to  the  sufficiency  of  the  speci- 
fications. The  manufacturers  joined  again  in  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  case,  which  was  finally  argued  before  a  special  jury 
in  June,  1785.  In  this  trial  it  was  contended  that  the  inven- 
tion was  not  the  work  of  Arkwright:  that  the  idea  was  not 
original  with  him,  and  that  the  invention  itself  was  not  really 
his  work.  Failure  to  disclose  the  invention  in  his  specifica- 
tions was  also  alleged.  It  was  at  this  trial  that  Highs  was 
brought  in  as  a  witness.  The  manufacturers  succeeded  in 
establishing  their  case  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  jury,  and  the 
patents  were  thrown  open. 

The  use  of  the  new  machines  was  undoubtedly  extended  by 
this  additional  facility  afforded  to  all  alike.  The  effect  of 
The  patents  the  opening  of  the  patents  was  relatively  greater 
voided  than  jt  wouid  be  to-day  in  any  industry  because 

scarce  any  of  these  machines  were  at  that  tune  the  object  of 
special  engineering  designs  or  of  particular  craft  skill  in  con- 
struction. The  water-frames  as  then  used  could  be  built  by 
carpenters  and  blacksmiths,  and  it  was  this  ease  of  setting 
them  up  that  had  been  a  cause  of  Arkwright's  difficulties. 
A  manufacturer  who  succeeded  in  enticing  away  some  one  or 
two  of  Arkwright's  workmen  could  produce  machines  that 
would  be  substantially  the  equivalent  of  the  originals. 

Ikejnra^ejj^mme  was  a  mechanical  means  of  doing  what 
had  long  been  done~::^spinnihglieEtIvely  coarse  yarns  lor  the 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  297 

The  yarn  was  sufficiently  strong 

to  enable  the  weavers  to  dispense  with  the  linen  warps  that 
had  been  used,  but  on  theTwhole  the  novelty  of  Arkwright's 
accomplishment  lay  in  the  application  of  machinery  to  the 
work  that  was  then  being  done  by  hand.  !Jlie_development 

" 


Jbhejnvention  of  the  mule  really  introduced  a"liew~productr 
In  1763  muslins  began~to~Ee  manufactured  in  EiogTand  by 
Joseph  Shaw  of  Bolton.  This  manufacture  was  wholly  de- 
pendent upon  importations  of  yarn  from  India,  but  despite 
this  handicap  the  industry  made  some  substantial  progress. 
There  was  available  at  this  time  for  the  purpose  of  spin- 
ning by  the  intermittent  process  only  the  small  machine 
introduced  by  Hargreaves,  usually  known  as  the 
"jenny."  It  was  little  more  than  an  enlarge- 
ment of  the  conventional  hand  wheel,  but  it  enabled  a  single 
workman  to  run  a  number  of  spindles  instead  of  one  only. 
The  machine  was  in  no  wise  automatic  and  involved  so  much 
attention  that  it  was  not  a  great  extension  of  the  power  of  the 
spinner.  The  accompanying  cut  shows  the  jenny  in  its  im- 
proved form.  There  is  a  box  (4-4)  beneath  which  contains 
rovings:  a  carriage  (5-5)  with  a  movable  clasp  bar  (16)  capa- 
ble of  holding  firmly  the  rovings  which  pass  through  it  to  the 
spindles  (3-3).  The  spindles  are  rotated  by  means  of  the 
large  wheel  (B-B). 

The  jenny  was  worked  by  one  person,  who  took  up  his  position 
in  front  of  the  frame.  The  rovings  were  then  drawn  between  the 
"clove"  of  clasp  bars  of  the  carriage,  and  attached  to  the  spindles, 
the  carriage  having  first  been  placed  in  position  for  commencing 
work  that  was  at  the  end  of  its  traverse,  nearest  the  spindles.  The 
bottom  bar  having  been  lowered,  the  carriage  was  drawn  away 
from  its  position,  until  a  proper  quantity  of  rove  to  form  one 
"  draw,"  or  length  of  yarn,  had  been  given  out,  which  was  regulated 
by  a  mark  on  the  side  of  the  frame.  The  lower  bar  was  then  raised, 
the  rove  held,  and  the  spindles  set  in  motion  by  the  spinner  turning 
the  wheel,  B,  at  the  same  time  commencing  to  draw  the  carriage 
further  out  from  its  position  near  the  spindles.  Thus  the  attenua- 
tion and  twisting  of  the  rove  went  on  simultaneously,  until  the 
requisite  degree  of  fineness  was  attained,  when  the  outward  traverse 
of  the  carriage  was  stopped,  the  spindles  being  kept  in  operation  for 


298 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


a  short  time  longer,  in  order  to  impart  sufficient  twist  to  the  thread. 
In  the  yarns  intended  for  warps  this  was  much  more  than  for  wefts, 
in  which  the  same  degree  of  strength  was  not  required.  When  this 
twisting  had  been  completed,  the  carriage  was  slightly  backed,  the 
guide  or  faller  wire,  12,  was  gently  brought  down  upon  the  threads, 


The  mule 


FIG.  3.  IMPROVED  MODEL  OP  HAKGBEAVES'S  SPINNING  JENNY 

by  means  of  the  cord,  7,  depressing  them  to  the  required  level:  the 
wheel,  B,  was  then  turned  slowly  round,  causing  the  spindles  to 
wind  up  the  thread  as  the  carriage  returned  to  its  first  position.1 

Crompton,  who  developed  this  machine  into  the  present 
mule,  was  brought  up  as  a  jenny  spinner.  Work  on  his 
invention  was  begun  about  1774  and  experimen- 
tation continued  for  about  five  years.  He 
finally  produced  what  was  at  first  known  as  the  "hall-in-the- 
wood  "  machine  or  ' '  muslin  wheel . ' '  The  name  ' '  mule ' '  was 
given  it  later  because  it  combined  features  of  both  the  jenny 
and  the  water-frame.  The  mule  differed  from  the  jenny  in 
two  respects :  the  place  of  the  clasp  was  taken  by  two  pairs  of 
rollers,  and  the  spindles  were  placed  upon  the  carriage.  The 
rollers  were  apparently  inspired  by  the  water-frame,  though 
1  Marsden,  R.:  Cotton  Spinning  (London,  1886),  205. 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


299 


Its  operation 


they  served  a  different  purpose.  They  were  feed  rollers 
rather  than  drawing  rollers.  The  annexed  cut  shows  a  side 
view  of  the  machine  greatly  simplified.  The  rovings  at  A 
are  drawn  off  by  the  rolls  and  hi  that  man- 
ner fed  into  the  machine.  If  we  imagine  the 
process  to  begin  with  the  carriage  near  the  rolls  at  L,  the 
carriage  would  then  recede  from  the  rolls  at  a  rate  of  speed 
proportioned  to  the  speed  of  the  rolls.  A  certain  amount  of 
roving  was  thus  drawn  in.  While  the  carriage  is  retreating 


Fio.  4.  CBOMPTON'S  MULB 

from  the  rolls  its  speed  is  sufficiently  great  to  subject  the 
roving  to  some  tension  at  the  same  tune  that  the  roving  is 
being  twisted.  Shortly  before  the  carriage  reaches  the  limit 
of  its  run,  the  rollers  stop  so  that  the  process  of  drawing  out 
the  roving  is  completed  after  the  yarn  has  been  otherwise 
finished.  At  this  stage  the  yarn  is  capable  of  bearing  con- 
siderable tension  and  therefore  fine  yarns  could  be  produced. 
When  the  carriage  reaches  the  full  limit  of  its  run,  the  spin- 
dles are  given  a  reverse  motion  so  that  the  completed  yarn  is 
reeled  up  as  the  carriage  returns  toward  the  rolls. 

In  the  original  mules  these  various  phases  of  the  process 
required  the  constant  attention  of  the  operative.  The  self- 
actor  accomplished  these  operations  automatically,  and  the 
delicate  mechanisms  required  to  perform  them  make  it  one 
of  the  most  remarkable  of  all  the  early  mechanical  inventions. 

Crompton's  first  machine  was  built  of  wood  and  carried 


300  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

only  twenty  or  thirty  spindles,  but  with  these  machines  he 
was  able  to  spin  yarn  to  the  count  of  sixty,  a  de- 

The  product  J_  ' 

gree  of  fineness  that  equaled  the  East  Indian 
yarns  usually  imported.  The  product  was  rapidly  improved 
and  the  best  East  Indian  yarns  surpassed.  By  1790  Robert 
Owen  was  able  to  produce  counts  as  high  as  two  hundred  and 
fifty  and  three  hundred,  though  it  was  not  customary  then 
to  produce  such  yarn  for  general  commerce.1  In  1851 
samples  were  spun  for  exhibition  purposes  that  would  be 
graded  as  seven  hundreds.  The  mule  thus  exceeded  all 
possible  accomplishments  of  the  human  hand.  The  finest 
products  of  the  Indian  spinners  were  introduced  into  general 
commerce  and  yarns  could  be  produced  that  surpassed  the 
importance  of  utmost  known  to  men.  The  mule  thus  achieved 
the  mule  a  distinction  that  is  within  the  scope  of  few 

inventions,  and  it  must  certainly  be  deemed  tha  moat,  Tflpnark-f  i  V)» 

^ 


able  of  the  textile  inventions,  its  development,  too, 
fundamental  to  the  establishment  of  all  branches  of  the  cot- 
ton manufacture  in  England  and  Europe.  JBut  for  this 
machine  Europe  would  have  always  been  dependent  upon 
India  for  yarn  and  goods,  excepting  only  the  coarse  grades. 
The  future  of  the  cotton  industry  was  thus  profoundly  influ- 
enced by  this  invention,  though  the  use  of  the  water-frame 
in  preparing  rovings  makes  it  impossible  to  ascribe  the  great 
changes  that  took  place  to  either  invention  exclusively. 

Crompton  received  but  little  benefit  financially  from  his 
invention.  The  workmen  hi  the  vicinity  had  long  known  of 
his  experiments,  and  he  was  threatened  with  violence  soon 
after  the  completion  of  his  mule.  He  felt  that  there  was  no 
choice  but  to  destroy  the  machine  or  make  it  public.  No 
attempt  was  made  to  secure  any  patents,  but  the  original 
machine  was  sold  to  a  number  of  manufacturers  to  be  used  as 
a  model  in  the  building  of  others.  They  took  the  machine, 
but  Crompton  never  received  the  sums  of  money  promised 
by  them.  In  1812  the  pressure  of  necessity  moved  him  to 
apply  to  Parliament  for  a  pension  and  on  recommendation 
of  the  committee  a  grant  of  £5000  was  made. 

1  Podmore,  F.:  Life  of  Robert  Owen,  i,  47. 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  301 

The  last  of  the  textile  inventions  was  the  power  loom. 
TMs~was  the  work  oi'  a  clergyman  whose  attention  was  called 
to  the  problem  in  an  entirely  casual  manner  by  „ 

,      .     ,  The  power  loom 

a  manufacturer.    A  friend  engaged  in  the  indus- 
try happened  to  remark  to  Cartwright  upon  the  dispropor- 
tion that  had  come  about  between  weaving  and  spinning  by 
reason  of  the  spinning  inventions.     The  influence  of  the  re- 
mark is  described  by  Cartwright  as  follows : 

It  struck  me  that  as  plain  weaving  can  only  be  three  movements 
which  were  to  follow  one  another  in  succession,  there  would  be  little 
difficulty  in  producing  them  and  repeating  them.  Full  of  these  ideas 
I  immediately  employed  a  carpenter  and  a  smith  to  carry  them  into 
effect.  As  soon  as  the  machine  was  finished,  I  got  a  weaver  to  put 
in  a  warp  which  was  of  such  material  as  sail  cloths  are  usually  made 
of.  To  my  great  delight,  a  piece  of  cloth,  such  as  it  was,  was  the 
product.  The  reed  fell  with  the  weight  of  at  least  half  a  hundred 
weight  and  the  springs  which  threw  the  shuttle  were  strong  enough 
to  have  thrown  a  Congreave  rocket.  In  short,  it  required  the 
strength  of  two  powerful  men  to  work  the  machine  at  a  slow  rate 
and  only  then  a  short  time.  I  then  secured  what  I  thought  was  a 
most  valuable  property  by  a  patent  on  April  4,  1785.  This  being 
done,  I  condescended  to  see  how  other  people  wove,  and  you  will 
guess  my  astonishment  when  I  compared  their  easy  modes  of  oper- 
ation with  mine.  It  was  not  until  1787  that  I  completed  my  inven- 
tion and  took  out  my  first  weaving  patent. 

An  attempt  was  made  to  set  up  a  factory  with  power  looms 
at  Doncaster,  but  the  concern  was  not  successful.  In  1790 
a  Manchester  firm  with  a  license  from  Cartwright  set  up  a 
weaving  factory  and  spent  much  money  hi  attempting  to 
improve  the  power  loom.  They  met  with  little  success  and 
the  undertaking  was  finally  abandoned  after  the  destruction 
of  the  first  mill  by  a  fire. 

The  chief  defect  of  the  early  loom  was  the  absence  of  any 
mechanical  contrivance  to  dress  the  warp  as  it  unrolled  from 
the  beam.    The  difficulty  was  overcome  in  part  Perfection  of 
by  dressing  the  warp  before  it  was  wound  on  the  ttM  loom 
beam  at  all;  a  loom  with  such  an  attachment  was  brought  out 
by  the  firm  of  Radcliffe  and  Ross.    The  invention  was  really 
the  work  of  an  employee,  William  Johnson,  a  dissipated 
weaver  of  volatile  temperament,  brilliant  in  conception,  but 


302  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

lacking  in  the  concentration  required  to  give  effect  to  his 
ideas.  Radcliffe  was  very  anxious  to  develop  weaving  to 
check  the  exportation  of  cotton  yarn  which  was  beginning  to 
be  considerable.  His  experiments  began  in  January,  1802, 
and  the  machine  was  patented  in  1803-04.  Three  patents 
were  taken  out  by  Horrocks  in  the  years  1803, 1805,  and  1813. 
His  loom  was  compact  and  strong;  it  was  finally  made  an 
efficient  machine  and  became  ultimately  the  basis  of  the 
modern  power  loom.  Horrocks  himself,  however,  failed  and 
sank  into  poverty.  The  idea  was  developed  by  Sharp  and 
Roberts,  machine-builders,  who  placed  a  much-improved 
model  of  the  Horrocks  loom  on  the  market  in  1822.  This 
machine  was  a  commercial  success;  the  first  loom  really 
capable  of  competing  with  the  hand  industry.  The  signifi- 
cance of  the  invention  is  shown  by  the  immediate  increase  in 
the  number  of  power  looms  in  use. 

NUMBERS  OF  POWER  LOOMS 

1813            1820             1829  1833 

England 2,400          12,150          45,500  85,000 

Scotland ?               2,000          10,000  15,000 

It  will  be  observed  that  no  considerable  use  was  made  of 
the  power  loom  before  1820,  and  that  the  use  of  the  loom 
developed  rather  rapidly  in  the  decade  following  the  introduc- 
tion of  the  Sharp  and  Roberts  loom  of  1822.  The  power 
loom,  however,  did  not  attain  even  approximately  its  modern 
form  until  1841.  Kenworthy  and  Bullough  of  Blackburn 
then  brought  out  their  improved  loom  equipped  with  self- 
acting  temple,  stop,  and  taking  up  motion.  The  labor  of 
weaving  was  reduced  by  nearly  one  half  and  a  greater  quan- 
tity of  high  grade  cloth  was  produced. 

II 

The  relation  of  the  development  of  machinery  to  the 
growth  of  the  industry  is  most  clearly  shown  by  the  statistics 
that  are  available,  despite  their  many  deficiencies.  The  in- 
completeness and  uncertainty  of  much  of  this  information 
makes  it  impossible  to  reach  certain  conclusions  with  refer- 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  303 

ence  to  many  matters  of  detail,  but  the  larger  facts  in  the 
expansion  of  the  industry  appear  in  such  striking  fashion  as 
to  admit  of  little  reasonable  doubt. 

The  older  writers  were  inclined  to  date  the  expansion  of  the 
industry  from  the  period  of  the  great  inventions,  represent- 
ing this  expansion  as  a  result  of  the  development  Expansion  of 
of  mechanical  processes.  Presumptions  against  the  ^dus^y 
such  a  view  are  suggested  by  the  history  of  the  development 
of  the  trade  in  cotton  goods,  but  without  some  means  of  de- 
termining the  quantitative  changes  and  the  rates  of  expan- 
sion at  different  periods,  these  presumptions  could  scarcely 
suffice  to  establish  the  larger  outlines  of  the  history  of  the 
industry.  Graphs  I  and  II  present  the  rates  of  expansion  hi 
the  industry,  as  measured  by  the  consumption  of  raw  cot- 
ton and  the  value  of  merchandise  exported.  The  supply  of 
raw  materials  is  imported  so  that  the  figures  for  the  quan- 
tities imported  afford  a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  the  quanti- 
tative expansion  of  the  entire  industry.  The  figures  for 
the  values  of  goods  exported  are  obviously  subject  to  ele- 
ments of  error  that  do  not  exist  in  statistics  of  the  weight 
of  imports,  but  the  importance  of  the  export  trade  hi  fin- 
ished goods  makes  such  figures  an  interesting  supplement  to 
the  other  series. 

The  graphs  have  been  plotted  upon  a  logarithmic  scale  in 
the  vertical  dimension  in  order  to  represent  the  rates  of  ex- 
pansion as  distinct  from  the  absolute  quantita-  _ 

,  '  *  .  Ratio  charts 

tive  increase.  The  more  usual  arithmetic  scale 
is  sufficiently  representative  when  the  absolute  quantities 
compared  do  not  vary  greatly,  but  no  helpful  comparisons 
can  be  made  by  such  a  scale  when  the  differences  between  the 
largest  numbers  and  the  smallest  numbers  are  as  great  as 
in  these  series  of  figures.  The  exports  of  manufactures  in- 
creased one  thousand-fold  between  1710  and  1800:  under 
such  conditions  an  increase  in  the  early  years  of  the  cen- 
tury that  would  represent  a  doubling  of  exports  could 
scarce  be  perceived  if  compared  with  the  large  volume  of 
exportation  at  the  close  of  the  period.  For  the  purposes 
of  studying  the  chronology  of  the  industry,  the  rates  of 


304 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


growth  are  more  important  than  changes  hi  the  absolute 
volume  of  production  or  exportation. 

Graph  I  indicates  that  the  expansion  of  the  industry  began 
Meaning  of        about  1740.    Machines  were  not  significantly 
ftpplied_to  f,h?  industry  until  fli«rd«wflfln  *f  fl)P 


Graph  I 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY  305 

Seventies,  but  the  industry  had  already  by  that  time  under- 
gone a  great  expansion.  The  rate  of  growth  between  1740 
and  1770  was  greater  hi  the  export  trade,  than  in  the  industry 
as  a  whole :  imports  of  raw  cotton  trebled,  exports  increased 
tenfold.  These  rates  of  expansion  were  somewhat  less  con- 
siderable than  hi  the  next  three  decades,  but  the  difference  is 
not  as  great  as  might  be  supposed.  We  tend  to  compare  abso- 
lute volumes  as  distinct  from  rates  of  change. 

We  may  therefore  say  with  some  confidence  that  the  inven- 
tions were  a  result  of  expansion  hi  the  industry  as  well  as  a 
cause  of  further  growth.  They  were  a  response  to  a  definite 
and  consciously  felt  opportunity. 

Graph  II  is  interesting  in  connection  with  the  discus- 
sions as  to  the  proper  termination  of  what  we  may  call  the 
"  period"  of  the  Industrial  Revolution.  Unless  , 

.  .  Graph  II 

the  term  is  used  in  the  very  narrow  sense  of  the 

period  of  the  Great  Inventions,  there  is  no  justification  in 

I.  FIGURES  FOR  GRAPHS  I  AND  II 
IMPORTS  OF  RAW  COTTON  AND  EXPORTS  OF  MANUFACTURES* 

Cotton  imported  Exports  of  manufacture* 

(millions  of  pounds)  (thousands  of  pounds  sterling) 

1701 1.9  23 

1710 7  5 

1720 1.9  16 

1730 1.5  13 

1741 1.6  20 

1751 2.9  45 

1764 3.8  200 

1766 220 

1771  (average  5  years) 4.7 

1776  (average  5  years) 6.7 

1780 355 

1785 18.4 

1787 1,101 

1790 31.4  1,662 

1800 56.0  5,406 

1811 91.6 

1821 129.0  16,000 

1831 280.5  17,200 

1841 489.9  23,400 

1851 760.1  '30,000 

1861 1261.4  46,800 

1862 533.1  36,700 

1871 1676.1  72,800 

1881 1676.1  79,000 

1884 1791.6  72,700 

•  Baines:  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,  108,  and  Ellison.T. :  Cotton  Trade  of  Great  Britain, 
Appendix,  Tables  1  and  2. 


306 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


relatively  early  dates  that  have  frequently  been  suggested. 
It  would  seem  that  there  would  be  some  purpose  in  conceiv- 


A/O. 


JL 


\l 

v- 


w 

'       /&0/- 
MPOtt- 0F/f, 


wcorro/v 


'MESO, 


/A/CttASE. 


ing  the  period  of  the  movement  as  the  entire  interval  between 
the  old  order  and  the  establishment  of  a  fairly  stable  relation- 
ship of  the  different  aspects  of  industry  under  the  new  order. 
We  are  here  concerned  with  the  textile  trades  alone,  but  it  is 
perfectly  evident  that  the  cotton  industry  was  expanding  at 
substantially  the  same  rate  as  in  the  preceding  decades  until 
1871.  Since  that  time  the  more  important  changes  have 
taken  place  in  the  metal  trades,  but  it  must  be  evident  that 
there  can  be  no  question  of  any  stability  in  the  textile  trades 
until  the  last  decades  of  the  century. 

The  expansion  of  the  cotton  trade  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  nineteenth  century  was  due  jointly  to  the  continued 
Rise  of  the  improvement  of  the  fundamental  machines  and 
cotton  industry  to  the  displacement  of  the  other  textiles.  The 
changes  in  the  costs  of  spinning  are  presented  in  subsequent 
graphs,  but  unfortunately  it  is  not  possible  to  make  any 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


307 


simple  statement  with  reference  to  the  costs  of  weaving. 
The  elements  of  the  comparison  are  too  complex  because  the 
goods  are  not  so  completely  standardized.  The  changes  in 
the  relative  position  of  the  various  textile  industries  are  indi- 
cated by  Graphs  III  and  IV.  In  Graph  III  the  rates  of 
growth  of  the  industries  are  shown  in  so  far  as  the  changes  can 
be  expressed  by  the  values  of  goods  consumed  at  home  or 
exported.  This  also  is  a  ratio  chart  drawn  to  a  logarithmic 
scale,  so  that  the  comparison  should  be  made  primarily 


/aooo 


4000 


£000 


J.OOO 


VALUES  Of  TEXT/L£ 

'pf?om/crsf  CONSUMED  AT 


000 


HOMEANP  &CPOR7&Z 


tra? 


308 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


II.  FIGURES  FOR  GRAPH  III 
RELATIVE  POSITION  OF  THE  BRITISH  TEXTILE  INDUSTRIES  * 


Values  in  thousands  of  pounds  sterling 

Exports 

Home  consumption 

1783  

Woolen 
Cotton 
Linen 

Woolen 
Cotton 
Linen 

Woolen 
Cotton 
Linen 

3,700 
360 
700 

15,041 
49,000 
6,119 

21,377 
76,000 
6,907 

13,100 
600 
3,300 

24,959 
28,000 
9,381 

31,623 
30,000 
11,093 

1859-61  

1882  

•  Ellison,  T. :  Cotton  Trade  of  Great  Britain,  118,  124  ff. 

between  the  degrees  of  inclination  of  the  various  lines.  It  is 
unfortunate  that  no  figures  were  available  for  the  long  period 
between  1783  and  1859,  and  especially  so  hi  view  of  the  fact 
that  this  period  was  the  time  of  greatest  change  in  the  rela- 
tive position  of  the  industries. 

The  cotton  industry  displays  a  rapid  expansion;  the  linen 
industry  shows  some  growth  especially  in  the  export  trade; 
but  the  woolen  industry  makes  no  notable  expansion  except 
hi  the  export  trade.  These  rates  of  growth  may  be  correlated 
with  the  growth  of  population.  When  the  population  of  a 
country  is  increasing  as  rapidly  as  that  of  England  hi  the 
early  nineteenth  century  some  growth  of  essential  industries 
is  to  be  expected.  The  very  slow  growth  of  the  woolen  in- 
dustry therefore  indicates  a  condition  that  must  have  been 
disheartening  to  the  woolen  manufacturers.  The  change  is 
perhaps  concealed  in  part  by  changes  in  the  character  of  the 
goods.  It  became  necessary  to  abandon  the  manufacture 
of  the  most  expensive  woolens  and  to  give  more  attention 
to  cheaper  grades.  The  actual  quantities  of  goods  produced 
probably  increased  more  rapidly  than  the  values.  However, 
it  is  not  possible  to  evade  the  general  conclusion  that  the 
cotton  industry  rose  rapidly  to  a  position  of  preeminence 
among  the  textile  trades. : 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


309 


This  appears  in  a  different  group  of  figures  in  Graph  IV, 
a  comparison  of  the  relative  amounts  of  raw  material  used, 
pound  for  pound.  The  comparison  seems  rather  crude,  but 
it  avoids  certain  elements  of  error  involved  in  figures  of 


eo 


00 


eo 


THE 


f£S  Or 


//V 


I! 


III.  FIGURES  FOR  GRAPH  IV 

PROPORTIONS  OP  NEW  MATERIALS  CONSUMED  BY  THE  VARIOUS  TEXTILE 

INDUSTRIES  * 


Cotton 

Wool 

Flax 

Total 

1798-1800  

16.08 

42.15 

41.77 

100 

1829-31       

41.47 

25.48 

33.05 

100 

1859-61  

68.40 

17.42 

14.18 

100 

1880-82  

66.35 

20.90 

12.75 

100 

•  Ellison,  T.:  Cotton  Trade  of  Great  Britain,  120. 

values.  The  figures  have  been  reduced  to  percentages.  It 
may  be  observed  further  that  there  are  figures  available  for 
the  years  1829-31,  so  that  the  material  is  in  that  respect 
more  satisfactory  than  the  material  embodied  in  the  preced- 
ing graph.  The  inclusion  of  these  additional  figures  in  the 
series,  however,  does  not  change  the  general  aspect  of  the 
lines.  The  growth  of  the  cotton  industry  proceeded  without 


310 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


interruption  or  much  change  in  rate,  from  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century  to  the  mid-nineteenth.  It  became  more 
definitely  dominant  than  any  of  the  industries  had  been  in 
the  earlier  period.  The  position  of  flax  and  wool  here  indi- 
cates that  the  change  in  the  basis  of  comparison  results  hi 
slight  differences.  They  seem  to  be  nearly  coordinate  in 
importance  in  1798,  though  in  the  preceding  graph  the 
woolen  industry  was  palpably  the  more  important. 

Graphs  V  and  VI  show  the  changes  in  the  prices  of  raw 
cotton  and  of  the  two  grades  of  yarn  that  became  character- 
istic of  the  new  industry.  The  arithmetic  scale  has  been  used 
in  these  graphs  as  absolute  comparisons  are  essential.  These 
figures  are  somewhat  conjectural,  being  computations  by 
Ellison  from  the  best  data  available  for  the  years  mentioned. 

IV.  FIGURES  FOR  GRAPHS  V  AND  VI 
PRICES  AND  COSTS  IN  MAKING  NUMBER  40  YARN 


Selling  price 

Cost  of  cotton 

Labor  and  capital 

shillings 

pence 

shillings 

pence 

shillings 

pence 

1779. 
1784. 
1799. 
1812. 

16 
10 
7 
2 
1 
0 
0 

O  »H  CO  CO  <M  i-i  O 
i-t  T-4  rH 

2 

2 
3 
1 
0 
0 
0 

0 
0 
4 
6 
71 
61 
7| 

14 
8 
4 
1 
0 
0 
0 

0 

11 

2 
0 
61 

4| 
3f 

1830. 
1860. 
1882. 

PRICES  AND  COSTS  IN  MAKING  NUMBER  100  YARN* 


1 

Selling  price 

Cost  of  cotton 

Labor  and  capital 

shillings 

pence 

shillings 

pence 

shillings 

pence 

1779.  .  , 

38 

0 

4 

0 

34 

0 

1784  

19 

o 

3 

6 

15 

.3    6 

1799. 

7 

2 

3 

0 

4 

J    2 

1812. 

5 

2 

2 

4 

2 

10 

1830. 

3 

4* 

1 

If 

2 

2f 

1860. 

2 

4 

0 

11 

1 

5 

1882. 

1 

10 

0 

9f 

1 

Of 

*  Ellison,  T. :  Cotton  Trade  of  Great  Britain,  61. 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


311 


Graph  M>.  S 


3e////ry  Ftice  of  Coffin  Yam 

0SX/ 

Gosfofffa**'  Cotton 
/779-/OSS 


The  high  cost  of  cotton  in  1799  in  the  figures  for  Number  40 
yarn  does  not  seem  wholly  consistent  with  the  figures  given 
in  the  other  table.  The  prices  quoted  for  1799  hi  the  former 
instance  are  presumed  to  reflect  war  conditions,  but  it  is  not 


•^  \5uf>frf/r>e  Eos?  //yd/a  Yarn 
<rj  I    "774O~  15ounfs)of~a/reh 
38 


Se/ttry  frx*  of  Cotton  tern  Ma/OO 


Costofftcnv  Cofon 
/779-/38Z 


f779        /7O9       /799       /8O9       /S/9         fO£9       /0J9         i919        /OJ9        /G69 


312 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


Prices  of  yarn 


very  plausible  to  suppose  higher  costs  for  the  coarse  than 
for  the  fine  yarns.  For  that  year  Number  40  is  quoted 
higher  than  Number  100.  With  reference  to  the  dating  of 

the  changes  in  the  in- 
dustry these  details  of 
costs  are  not  as  signifi- 
cant as  the  relation  of 
the  prices  of  these  counts 
of  yarn  to  the  prices  of 
the  counts  used  before 
the  introduction  of  ma- 
chines. 

The  prices  of  grades 
of  yarn  that  were  used 
in  the  ear- 
lier period, 

for  the  purposes  that 
were  substantially  the 
same  as  those  to  which 
these  counts  were  ap- 
plied, are  noted  on  the 
graphs.  Neither  forties 
nor  one  hundreds  were 
commonly  used  prior  to 
the  introduction  of  ma- 
chinery. Twenty-fours, 
twenties,  and  sixteens 
are  mentioned  in  con- 
nections which  seem  to 
suggest  that  they  occu- 
pied the  place  in  the 
trade  that  later  came  to 
be  dominated  by  the 
forties,  but  weft  spun  at  Manchester  about  1760  was  graded 
between  fives  and  sixteens.  The  first  effect  of  the  intro- 
duction of  machinery,  therefore,  was  not  so  much  to  reduce 
the  costs  of  the  ultimate  products  as  to  improve  the  charac- 
ter of  the  goods.  The  displacement  came  earlier  in  the  fine 


LABOft  COSTS  OF 

5P/MMNG 
f>£ff  PQUA/P  Of  YARN. 


THE  NEW  COTTON  INDUSTRY 


313 


V.  FIGURES  FOB  GRAPH  VII 

COSTS  OF  LABOR  PER  POUND  OF  YARN.    HAND  MULES,  1812;  SELF- 
ACTORS,  1830;  AND  HAND  SPINNERS  IN  INDIA* 


Counts  of  yarn 

1812 
(pence) 

1830 
(pence) 

India 
(pence) 

40  

12 

7| 

40 

80  

26 

19* 

82| 

100  

34 

26} 

143 

150  

78 

59 

300 

200  

200 

138 

535 

*  Schultze-Gaevernita:    The  Cotton  Trade  in  Great  Britain,  43. 

yarn  trade,  if  we  may  trust  the  figures  presented,  and  there 
would  seem  to  be  no  grounds  for  doubting  this  conclusion. 
It  is  wholly  consistent  with  the  general  characteristics  of 
the  product  of  the  mule.  The  greatest  changes  in  the  prices 
of  the  high  counts  took  place  before  1800,  whereas  the  great- 
est changes  in  the  prices  of  the  lower  counts  took  place 
between  1800  and  1829.  The  influence  of  the  inventions 
upon  the  prices  of  the  product  was  thus  much  less  sudden 
than  is  frequently  supposed. 

The  absolute  differences  in  the  costs  of  production  are  also 
shown  by  Graph  VII.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  intro- 
duction of  the  self-actor  mule  did  not  result  in  costs  in  Eng- 
any  startling  reductions  in  the  costs  of  produc-  land  and  India 
ing  the  lower  counts,  although  large  economies  were  realized 
in  the  production  of  one  hundred  and  fifties  and  two  hun- 
dreds. The  more  interesting  comparison  lies  between  the 
costs  in  India  and  hi  England.  The  mule  could  produce 
one  hundreds  cheaper  than  the  Indian  hand-spinners  pro- 
duced forties;  one  hundred  and  fifties,  cheaper  than  the 
hand-spinners  could  spin  eighties;  two  hundreds,  cheaper 
than  the  Indians  could  produce  one  hundreds.  Further- 
more, the  costs  of  producing  the  higher  counts  by  hand  will 
be  seen  to  be  substantially  prohibitive.  It  is  thus  the  dis- 
tinction of  the  new  cotton  industry  that  it  brought  to  the 
masses  of  the  people  better  goods  than  even  the  rich  had 
been  able  to  afford  in  the  earlier  period. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES 

I.  A  NEW  FUEL  AND  A  NEW  FURNACE 

THE  development  of  the  iron  and  steel  industries  in  Eng- 
land is  usually  associated  with  .the  change  from  charcoal 
fuel  to  coal  and  coal  products.  In  some  of  the 
industrial  histories  the  change  of  fuel  is  alleged 
to  be  the  primary  change.  This  is  a  serious  misconception. 
The  fuel  was,  indeed,  changed,  but  the  change  in  the  fuel 
was  only  a  part  of  a  general  transformation  of  the  technique 
of  ore  reduction  and  of  methods  of  preparing  the  various 
classes  of  iron  products.  The  changes  in  technique  embraced 
a  comprehensive  transformation  of  nearly  all  the  mechanical 
and  metallurgical  aspects  of  these  processes.  It  is  fairly 
certain  that  the  attempt  to  use  coal  products  as  fuel  was  the 
stimulus  to  many  of  the  changes,  but  it  was  not  the  sole 
stimulus,  and  the  transformation  is  very  inadequately  de- 
scribed in  terms  of  the  change  in  fuel. 

In  the  broadest  sense  the  transformation  of  the  industry 
was  a  substitution  of  indirect  processes  for  direct  processes. 
There  was  an  increased  specialization  which  carried  with  it 
important  technical  advantages.  The  introduction  of  coke 
as  the  primary  fuel  was  an  essential  feature  of  the  change, 
but  great  mechanical  improvements  were  no  less  necessary. 
The  direct  process  gets  its  name  from  the  production  of 
malleable  iron  as  an  immediate  result  of  the  process  of 
smelting.  Malleable  or  wrought  iron  is  iron 
that  is  nearly,  if  not  entirely,  pure.  It  is  free 
from  carbon  and  from  other  substances  that  might  impair 
the  toughness  which  is  the  distinctive  feature  of  this  product. 
When  iron  is  combined  with  a  high  percentage  of  carbon  it  is 
known  as  cast  iron.  It  is  said  to  be  impossible  for  iron  to 
contain  much  more  than  five  or  six  per  cent  of  carbon,  but 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    315 

more  than  two  per  cent  is  sufficient  to  make  iron  brittle  and 
undesirable  for  purposes  requiring  great  tensile  strength. 

Steel  is  a  combination  of  iron  with  relatively  moderate 
percentages  of  carbon.  There  is,  therefore,  a  wide  range  in 
the  qualities  and  properties  of  steel,  because  minute  varia- 
tions in  the  proportion  of  carbon  occasion  great 
transformations  in  the  physical  properties  of 
the  metal.  Some  types  of  iron  begin  to  exhibit  character- 
istics of  steel  when  the  carbon  content  rises  above  0.3  per 
cent,  but  most  types  of  iron  fail  to  exhibit  these  properties 
until  there  is  at  least  0.6  per  cent  carbon:  the  types  of  steel 
most  frequently  used  contain  between  1.0  and  1.5.  per  cent 
carbon.  Two  per  cent  of  carbon  seems  to  be  the  limit  be- 
tween steel  and  cast  iron.  In  the  modern  industry  the 
varieties  of  steel  have  been  increased  by  the  addition  of 
minute  proportions  of  the  rarer  metals,  titanium,  vanadium, 
and  the  like.  The  difficulty  of  producing  steel  lies  hi  the 
control  of  the  carbon  content,  and,  though  steel  was  un- 
doubtedly known  as  early  as  any  of  the  iron  products,  it  is 
only  within  the  last  centuries  that  the  deliberate  production 
of  steel  was  at  all  successful. 

The  indirect  jaEoeess-is^scLcalled  because  the  product  of 
smelting  is  cast  iron.  This  cast  iron  is  331  suitecl  for  many 
uses.  Medieval  cannon,  various  kinds  of  orna-  The  indirect 
mental  work,  and  much  kitchen-ware  came  to  P1"00688 
be  made  of  cast  iron  at  an  early  date,  but  the  uses  of  cast 
iron  are  strictly  limited.  It  is  necessary  to  subject  cast  iron 
to  further  processes  to  eliminate  the  carbon  and  silica  and 
convert  the  preliminary  product  into  wrought  iron  or  steel. 
Processes  of  smelting  which  result  in  the  production  of  cast 
iron  are  termed  indirect  processes,  because  the  production 
of  cast  iron  is  not  the  ultimate  purpose. 

The  primitive  iron  industry  and  the  iron  industries  of 
western  Europe  down  to  the  period  of  the  Industrial  Revo- 
lution generally  utilized  direct  processes,  and  The  direct 
even  when  the  ironmasters  of  Europe  began  to  Process 
get  cast  iron  in  then*  furnaces,  it  was  produced  for  specific 
purposes  and  was  not  as  a  rule  the  basis  for  subsidiary  refin- 


316  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ing  processes.  One  may  say,  therefore,  with  little  exag- 
geration that  the  indirect  processes  were  not  used  prior  to 
the  Industrial  Revolution.  This  long  predominance  of  the 
direct  process  is  to  be  attributed  to  the  small  size  of  the 
furnaces  used  in  early  times  and  above  all  to  the  limited 
possibilities  of  producing  an  artificial  blast.  These  furnaces 
were  wasteful  because  the  relatively  low  temperatures  ob- 
tainable were  not  sufficient  to  separate  all  the  metallic  iron 
from  the  ore.  It  was  because  of  these  low  temperatures,  too, 
that  the  product  of  these  furnaces  was  characteristically  ex- 
tracted in  a  solid  mass :  red  hot  but  not  a  liquid.  Any  furnace 
will  produce  cast  iron  when  the  temperature  obtained  is  suf- 
ficiently high  to  melt  the  iron.  Cast  iron  is  therefore  drawn 
off  as  a  liquid;  run  into  beds  of  sand  to  form  the  "pigs"  of 
commerce. 


Fia.  5.  OSMUND  FURNACE.  VERTICAL  SECTION  THROUGH  THE 
TWYER.    (From  Swedenborg's  plate) 

This  furnace  was  ordinarily  about  12  feet  high.  The  lump  of  iron  produced 
in  smelting  was  withdrawn  through  an  opening  at  one  side  (not  shown  in  the 
out)  which  was  filled  with  loose  stones  during  the  firing.  Not  more  than  1.5 
tons  of  iron  could  be  made  weekly,  and  in  working  up  the  "osmund"  or 
"bloom"  there  was  a  loss  of  from  33  to  50  per  cent. 

The  irregular  shaped  mass,  or  bloom,  extracted  from  early 
furnaces  was  seldom  homogeneous.  It  was  likely  to  consist 
of  a  shell  of  steel  and  a  core  of  pure  malleable  iron.  The 
selection  of  steel  for  tools  and  cutlery  was  therefore  a  task 
requiring  nice  discretion,  and  the  careful  testing  of  swords 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES  317 

and  other  such  apparatus  was  a  particularly  wise  bit  of 
caution  on  the  part  of  any  buyer.  The  defects  of  early  steel 
products  were  due  to  the  uncertainties  of  producing  steel. 
It  was  not  possible  to  produce  any  particular  grade  at  will 
nor  was  it  possible  to  produce  any  considerable  mass  of  even 
quality.  The  steel  industry  of  the  middle  ages  was  wholly 
empirical.  All  these  uncertainties  were  overcome  when 
production  became  indirect.  Economies  were  also  realized, 
as  a  result  of  the  larger  size  of  the  furnaces. 


FlG.  6.  FUENACE  WITH  WATER-BLOWING  APPARATUS 

(Dauphin6,  eighteenth  century) 

The  construction  of  the  furnace  differs  in  some  particulars  from  that  of  the  more  famous  Catalan 
furnace,  but  the  mechanism  for  blowing  is  based  upon  the  Catalan  principle. 

The  low  open-hearth  furnace  maintained  itself  in  Sweden 
for  a  long  time,  and  the  annexed  cut  of  the  Swedish  furnace 
is  fairly  typical  of  the  highest  development  of  this  most 
primitive  type.     In  Catalonia  special  kinds  of    Blowing 
blowing  apparatus  were  developed  which  made    apparatus 
it  possible  to  achieve  higher  temperatures  despite  the  small 
open  hearth,  so  that  the  effect  of  the  furnace  became  sig- 
nificantly different.     Small  quantities  of  steel  could  be 
produced. 

The  small  water-powers  that  were  available  in  Spain  led 
to  the  perfection  of  a  blast  created  by  a  small  stream  of  water 
falling  intermittently  down  a  pipe.  (See  Fig.  7.)  There  is 


318 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


a  series  of  holes  near  the  top  of  the  pipe;  the  flow  of  water 
being  checked,  air  flows  in  which  is  carried  down  by  the 
water  that  is  immediately  admitted.  The  excess  water 

flows  off  from  the  bottom 
of  the  lower  tank  and  the 
air  in  the  enclosed  space 
above  is  driven  with 
some  considerable  force 
through  the  vent,  or  tu- 
y£re,  which  leads  to  the 
furnace.  This  was  prob- 
ably the  best  device  for 
creating  a  blast  known 
to  the  middle  ages,  and 
the  superiority  of  the 
Spanish  steel  products 
was  largely  due  to  the 
temperatures  obtainable 
in  this  water-blown  fur- 
nace. 

The  first  great  improve- 
ments in  smelting  fur- 
naces were  made  in  Ger- 
many. The 
height  of  the 
furnace  was  increased  and 
the  shape  altered.  The 
opening  at  the  top  was 
made  narrow  and  the 
greatest  diameter  of  the  furnace  placed  about  halfway  be- 
tween the  top  and  the  bottom.  The  furnace  was  fed  from 
the  top  so  that  the  metal  was  kept  in  contact  with  the  fuel 
for  a  longer  time.  The  increased  height  tended  to  increase 
the  draft,  and  the  greater  capacity  of  the  furnace  made  it 
easier  to  achieve  high  temperatures.  This  form,  known  in 
England  as  the  bloomery  or  high  bloomery  furnace,  produced 
either  cast  iron  or  wrought  iron,  according  to  the  details  of 
the  firing.  Apparently,  however,  cast  iron  was  not  produced 


FIG.  7.  DETAIL  OF  WATER-BLOWING 
APPARATUS  (Dauphin^) 

The  pipe  HH  is  27  feet  high  and  1  foot  4  inches  in 
diameter.  The  reservoir  M  is  6  feet  high  and  6  feet 
in  diameter.  Outflow  of  superfluous  water  is  provided 
for  by  the  chamber  QRS,  and  the  blast  is  carried  to 
the  furnace  by  the  twyer  NO. 


The  bloomery 
furnace 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    319 


unless  it  was  intended  to  be  used  without  refining.  The 
German  ironmasters  were  on  the  verge  of  introducing  the 
indirect  process,  but  did  not  actually  abandon  the  direct  proc- 
ess when  wrought 
iron  was  desired. 

As  long  as  char- 
coal was  Effect  of  using 
used  as  coke 
fuel  this  double  use 
of  the  high  bloomery 
furnace  was  wholly 
feasible.  The  at- 
tempt to  use  coal,  or 
rather  coke,  for  fuel 
made  it  increasingly 
difficult  to  avoid  get- 
ting cast  iron  as  the 
product.  The  change 
in  fuel,  therefore,  ex- 
erted a  notable  pres- 
sure toward  the  in- 
troduction of  the 
systematic  use  of  the 
indirect  processes 
and  thus  the  devel- 
opment of  the  indi- 
rect methods  was 
substantially  an 
English  achieve- 
ment. The  scarcity 

of  timber  for  the  preparation  of  charcoal  became  a  serious 
problem  by  the  sixteenth  century.  There  were  a  number  of 
statutes  prohibiting  further  cutting  of  timber  for  use  in  iron 
furnaces  and  some  statutes  prohibiting  the  establishment  of 
smelting  works.  Despite  these  measures  the  iron  industry 
continued  to  expand  throughout  the  early  part  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  but  a  decline  set  in  at  that  time  which 
continued  until  1740  when  the  introduction  of  coke  as  fuel 


FIG.  8.  A  NORWEGIAN  BLOOMERY  FURNACE 
(Eighteenth  century) 

Total  height  of  furnace,  30  feet.  The  product  averaged  19 
to  20  tons  weekly,  but  only  two  thirds  of  this  amount  was 
recoverable  as  malleable  iron. 


320  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

arrested  the  decline.  The  transformation  of  the  industry 
was  thus  a  necessity  which  became  increasingly  imperious. 
The  earliest  developments  were  the  results  of  Dudley's 
experiments  in  the  seventeenth  century.  His  first  trials 
Dudley's  were  made  in  1619  when  he  took  control  of  his 
experiments  father's  foundry  after  graduating  from  Oxford. 
Wood  was  scarce,  and  there  was  plenty  of  coal.  The  foundry 
was  located  on  a  coal-field,  the  coal  and  iron  being  bedded 
together  so  that  it  had  been  necessary  in  the  past  to  produce 
a  certain  amount  of  coal  in  getting  out  the  iron  ore.  With 
the  second  blast  he  produced  iron  at  the  unsatisfactory  rate 
of  three  tons  a  week.  He  wrote  at  once  to  his  father,  direct- 
ing him  to  secure  a  patent,  and  the  first  patent  was  issued 
in  1622.  In  the  following  year  floods  ruined  the  works,  to 
the  joy  of  the  neighboring  ironmasters  whose  works  had 
escaped.  Dudley's  neighbors  claimed  that  his  iron  was  of 
inferior  grade  and  the  matter  was  brought  before  the  King 
and  Parliament.  A  test  was  instituted  and,  though  Dudley 
succeeded,  the  following  Parliament  abolished  all  his  pat- 
ents. They  were  subsequently  renewed,  but  the  charcoal 
ironmasters  drove  him  out  of  Worcester  County.  He  moved 
to  Himley  in  Staffordshire  and  made  pig  iron  there,  but  had 
no  means  of  converting  it  into  wrought  iron  and  was  obliged 
to  sell  it  to  the  charcoal  ironmasters.  Another  furnace  was 
set  up  by  him  at  Hascobridge.  His  bellows  were  larger  and 
he  produced  seven  tons  per  week.  A  riot  was  finally  organ- 
ized, his  apparatus  was  destroyed,  and  he  was  forced  to  de- 
sist. In  1660  Dudley  petitioned  for  a  new  patent,  but  even 
then  he  was  unable  to  rival  the  charcoal  furnace  in  output. 
The  details  of  his  process  are  not  accurately  known.  We 
do  not  know  in  what  form  he  used  coal,  whether  raw  or  as 
coke;  and  we  do  not  know  the  character  of  his  blowing 
apparatus.  There  is  reason  to  doubt  the  commercial  suc- 
cess of  his  undertaking  even  at  his  period  of  greatest  pros- 
perity. After  his  death  nothing  further  was  done  for  a  con- 
siderable period.  It  seems  likely  that  coke-making  became 
more  common  and  that  its  applications  were  better  known, 
but  it  was  not  applied  directly  to  smelting. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    321 

The  development  of  this  new  process  as  a  commercial 
undertaking  was  largely  the  work  of  the  Darbys,  of  whom 
there  were  three  generations.  At  their  works 
at  Coalbrookdale  were  initiated  the  fundamen- 
tal features  of  the  modern  iron  industry.  The  first  Abraham 
Darby  proposed  to  undertake  the  making  of  kitchen-ware. 
As  the  processes  then  known  in  England  were  ill-adapted  to 
the  purpose,  he  made  a  trip  to  Holland  in  1706  where  he 
mastered  the  process  of  making  castings  in  sand.  Upon  his 
return  in  1708,  he  took  out  a  patent,  but  his  partners  refused 
to  embark  more  capital  in  the  business  and  he  was  obliged 
to  set  up  independent  works  at  Coalbrookdale  in  Shrop- 
shire. He  began  to  use  charcoal  for  fuel,  but  the  scarcity  of 
wood  forced  him  to  experiment  with  coke.  Apparently  the 
coke  was  used  only  for  roasting  the  ore  preparatory  to  smelt- 
ing. It  was  difficult  to  produce  a  strong  enough  blast  to  get 
the  necessary  heat  from  coke  and  some  of  the  ore  was  left 
unmelted. 

Abraham  Darby,  the  second,  assumed  control  of  the  works 
about  1730,  and,  as  the  supplies  of  charcoal  were  fast  failing, 
he  determined  to  apply  coke  to  the  entire  proc-  success  with 
ess.  His  experiments  took  place  some  time  coke 
between  1730  and  1735,  and  a  moderate  degree  of  success 
was  obtained.  The  blast  apparatus  was  apparently  not 
significantly  changed.  It  was  produced  by  a  pair  of  bellows 
coupled  and  worked  by  a  water  wheel.  He  got  additional 
power  through  the  use  of  an  old  Newcomen  engine  to  pump 
the  water  from  a  lower  to  the  higher  level.  He  then  leased 
additional  properties  and  erected  seven  furnaces  with  five 
fire  engines  to  run  water  wheels.  In  1754  the  first  of  these 
new  furnaces  was  blown  in,  and  hi  December,  1756,  the  work 
of  the  furnace  was  declared  to  be  "at  the  top  pinnacle  of 
prosperity,  twenty  to  twenty-two  tons  a  week,  and  sold  off 
as  soon  as  made  at  profit  enough."  These  experiments  of 
Abraham  Darby,  however,  were  a  beginning  of  many  things 
rather  than  the  end  of  a  transformation. 

The  furnace  was  a  commercial  success,  but  left  much  to 
be  desired  in  its  mechanical  aspects.     The  leather  bellows 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

which  had  been  more  or  less  efficient  when  charcoal  was 
used  were  barely  adequate  at  the  best  under  the  new  con- 
ditions, and  tantalizingly  imperfect.  There  was  an  obvious 
need  of  better  blowing  machinery  and  significant  improve- 
ment was  possible  only  under  a  new  principle.  The  main 
problem,  however,  centered  around  the  conversion  of  pig 


FIG.  9.  BLAST  FURNACE  (Ebbw  Vale,  Monmouthshire,  1850-60) 

Vertical  section,  with  sections  of  stoves  for  heating  the  blast.  Height 
of  furnace,  53  feet.  The  product  of  a  blast  furnace  varies  according  to  the 
size,  shape,  and  details  of  management.  Percy  gives  records  of  a  furnace 
(about  1860)  that  produced  at  times  150  tons  of  gray  iron  weekly,  averaging 
135  tons;  but  these  figures  seem  to  be  higher  than  the  average  for  that  time. 

iron  into  wrought  iron;  there  was  some  knowledge  of  the 
methods  of  refining,  but  there  were  no  processes  that  could 
be  applied  on  a  large  scale. 

The  blowing  apparatus  was  perfected  by  John  Smeaton 
The  blowing  in  1760.  His  work  was  done  largely  at  the 
engine  Carron  Works  in  Scotland.  These  were  the 

first  works  hi  Scotland  to  use  coke  as  fuel,  but  their  success 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    323 

was  moderate  and  the  proprietors  were  becoming  dis- 
couraged. They  were  on  the  point  of  returning  to  charcoal 
when  Smeaton  completed  his  compressed  air  pump.  The 
first  pump  consisted  of  four  iron  cylinders,  four  feet  six 
inches  in  diameter,  fitted  with  pistons  having  a  stroke  of 
about  four  feet  six  inches.  The  machine  was  driven  by 
water-power  and  produced  an  almost  constant  blast  with  a 
pressure  of  two  to  three  atmospheres.  The  furnace  which 
had  formerly  yielded  ten  to  twelve  tons  now  produced  forty. 


FIG.  10.  DEVELOPED  CYLINDBICAL  BLOWING  ENGINE 

This  new  principle  in  blowing  was  rapidly  extended  through- 
out the  iron  industry.  Steam  engines  were  applied  hi  a 
number  of  cases  to  driving  the  pump  though  water-power 
was  most  advantageous. 

The  perfection  of  the  steam  engine  was  inspired  in  part  by 
these  new  demands  upon  it,  and  in  part  by  the  increased 
development  of  pumps  generally.  The  Newcomen  engine 
was  used  increasingly  in  the  iron  industry,  but  in  most  cases 
it  was  not  possible  to  apply  the  engine  directly  to  the  air 
pumps.  The  engine  was  used  to  pump  water  to  drive 
wheels  that  worked  the  blowing  cylinders. 


324  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

II.  JAMES  WATT  AND  THE  STEAM  ENGINE 

The  story  of  Watt's  engine  is  not  directly  a  part  of  the 
history  of  the  iron  industry,  but  the  invention  is  more 
closely  related  to  this  mechanical  development  in  the  iron 
trade  than  it  is  to  any  other  single  episode.  Watt'sjsngine 
was  definitely Jbhe_ojatcpme  of  an  attempt  to  improve  the 
Newcomen's  Newcomen  engine,  and  the  essential  principles 
engine  Of  njs  invention  are  most  readily  understood 

when  approached  from  that  point  of  view.  The  Newcomen 
engine  was  first  patented  in  1705.  It  was,  properly  speak- 
ing, an  atmospheric  engine  rather  than  a  steam  engine.  The 
motive  power  really  came  from  the  difference  between  the 
pressure  of  the  air  on  the  upper  side  of  the  piston  and  the 
partial  vacuum  produced  in  the  cylinder  by  the  conden- 
sation of  the  steam.  Steam  was  therefore  an  incidental  • 
mechanism,  a  means  of  producing  a  rather  incomplete  vac- 
uum. The  engine  worked  at  very  low  pressure.  The  pis-  /JCX  \V 
tons  were  large.  In  the  later  period  they  sometimes  reached 
six  feet  hi  diameter,  and  they  were  usually  four  or  five  feet 
in  diameter.  Newcomen's  first  engine  made  six  or  eight 
strokes  per  minute,  and  his  later  improved  model  as  many 
as  ten  or  twelve.  The  engine  was  considerably  modified 
after  the  first  patents,  but  by  1718  had  acquired  a  standard 
form  which  it  held  for  many  years.  The  engines  were  badly 
proportioned,  however,  and  were  frequently  unsafe.  Smea- 
ton  revised  many  details,  improved  their  proportions,  and 
increased  their  efficiency  very  notably. 

Watt  was  brought  up  as  a  tool-maker:  hi  the  phraseology 
of  the  tune  a  "mathematical  instrument-maker,"  hi  our 
own  terminology  a  maker  of  scientific  apparatus  for  astro- 
nomical and  physical  experiments.     He  set  up 

Watt's  studies  *T.*  *. 

his  shop  within  the  university  precincts  at 
Glasgow  and  found  much  of  his  trade  hi  repairing  apparatus 
for  the  college  laboratories.  His  attention  was  directed  to 
the  steam  engine  as  early  as  1759  by  a  student  in  the  univer- 
sity, Robinson.  He  had  made  some  study  of  chemistry  and 
became  interested  in  the  problems  of  heat.  His  work  with 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    325 

Dr.  Black  led  to  the  discovery  of  latent  heat,  and  these  inter- 
ests determined  the  character  of  his  approach  to  the  problem 
of  the  steam  engine. 

Setting  to  work  in  1763  to  repair  a  model  of  Newcomen's 
engine  belonging  to  the  college,  he  made  a  systematic  study 
of  its  problems.  After  experiments  he  came  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  about  three  fourths  of  the  heat  supplied  to  the 
engine  was  wasted.  This  appalling  waste  was  due  to  the 
alternate  heating  and  cooling  of  the  cylinder. 

The  essential  idea  of  his  invention  was  a  simple  reaction 
from  this  realization  of  the  wastefulness  of  Newcomen's 
engine.  He  says  (1765):  "I  had  gone  to  take  conception  of 
a  walk  on  a  fine  Sabbath  afternoon.  I  had  t116611^6 
entered  the  Green  and  passed  the  old  washing  house.  I 
was  thinking  of  the  engine  at  the  time.  I  had  gone  as  far 
as  the  herd's  house  when  the  idea  came  into  my  mind  that 
as  steam  was  an  elastic  body  it  would  rush  into  a  vacuum, 
and  if  a  connection  were  made  between  the  cylinder  and  an 
exhausting  vessel  it  would  rush  into  it  and  might  there  be 
condensed  without  cooling  the  cylinder."  *  This  notion  of 
a  separate  condensing  chamber  was  the  germ  of  an  entirely 
different  machine.  The  initial  proposal  was  merely  to  save 
wasting  heat  by  alternately  heating  and  cooling  the  cylinder. 
The  ultimate  result  was  to  apply  steam  alternately  to  the 
different  sides  of  the  piston  head  thus  converting  the  old 
atmospheric  engine  into  a  genuine  steam  engine.  The  live 
steam  acting  on  the  piston  head  would  usually  be  at  a 
pressure  of  several  atmospheres  and  the  partial  vacuum  on 
the  other  side  of  the  piston  head  was,  if  anything,  more 
complete  than  in  the  Newcomen  engine,  so  that  Watt's 
engine  was  immensely  more  powerful  as  well  as  being  more 
economical  hi  heat  and  fuel. 

The  valve  structure  of  Watt's  original  machine  seems 
crude  and  imperfect  to  us  to-day,  but  we  can  easily  fail  to 
understand  the  brilliance  of  Watt's  conception  and  above 
all  is  it  easy  to  lose  sight  of  the  extraordinary  advance 
mechanically.  The  best  indication  of  the  quality  of  Watt's 
1  Thurston,  R.  H.:  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine,  87. 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


work  is  the  comment  made  by  JSmeaton  when  he  first  saw 
the  engine  at  work.  "It  is,"  he  said,  "a  very  remarkable 
invention,  but  notwithstanding  its  excellence  it  can  never 
Difficulties  of  be  brought  into  general  use  because  of  the  dif- 
engine-buiiding  ficuity  of  getting  its  parts  manufactured  with 
sufficient  precision."  l  The  truth  of  this  comment  was 
painfully  borne  out  by  Watt's  subsequent  experience.  In 
letters  written  during  the  work  on  the  engine,  Watt  writes: 

"You  ask  what  is  the  principal 
hindrance  in  creating  engines? 
It  is  always  the  smith  work." 
Some  of  the  first  cylinders  cast 
for  him  were  one  eighth  of  an 
inch  wider  at  one  end  than  at 
the  other,  and  in  one  cylinder 
of  eighteen  inches  diameter  there 
was  an  error  of  three  eighths  of 
an  inch. 

The  description  of  the  trials 

FIG.  11.  APPARATUS  USED  BY    adds  some  significant  details.  In 
WATT   IN   EXPERIMENTS    TO    connection  with  the  first  trials, 


tember  20,  1769: 


DEMONSTRATE    THE       ovAN-    Watt  writes  to  Dr.  Small,  Sep- 
TAGES  OP  A  SEPARATE  CONDENS- 
ING  CHAMBER 


The  trial  has  not  been  decisive,  but  I  am  still  allowed  to  flatter 
myself  with  hopes.  .  .  .  The  adjusting  and  fitting  all  the  parts  to- 
gether took  longer  time  than  we  thought  of,  but  after  much  close 
labor  we  got  it  brought  to  trial  about  a  fortnight  ago.  After  the  air 
was  pumped  out,  the  piston  of  the  cylinder  descended  about  two 
feet  and  stopped  there,  being  unwilling  to  go  any  further.  Steam 
was  admitted  and  it  descended.  On  the  second  trial,  it  came  down 
only  a  few  inches.  I  thought  the  bucket  of  the  pump  was  in  fault. 
The  water  being  let  off,  and  the  bucket  drawn  the  leather  was  then 
found  to  be  flyped,  that  is,  turned  up  at  the  edge.  On  examining 
the  piston  of  the  cylinder,  the  pasteboard  used  for  leather  there  was 
torn.  It  was  conjectured  that  the  jacket  hole  might  not  be  in  the 
Setting  up  the  center  of  the  cylinder,  and  that  we  endeavored  to  rec- 
engine  tify,  three  ply  of  pasteboard  was  put  on  the  piston 

instead  of  one.  A  double  leather  was  put  on  the  bucket  and  we  again 

1  Smiles,  S.  :  Industrial  Biography,  180.  The  original  reference  is  in  indirect 
discourse. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES   327 


set  to  work.  . .  .  After  some  strokes  the  piston  failed  and  oil  came 
through  the  condenser.  The  piston  being  drawn,  cork  was  put  on 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  pasteboard.  The  oil  pump  was  ex- 
amined and  the  pas- 
sage through  which 
it  should  discharge 
its  oil  found  too 
small.  ...  On  put- 
ting in  the  cork  the 
piston  in  descending 
did  not  apply  itself 
to  the  cylinder  in 
one  place  on  one  side. 
On  examination  the 
cylinder  was  found 
to  be  oval  in  that 
place  either  from 
some  inaccuracy  in 
making  or  from  some 
injury  in  setting  it 
up. . . .  The  leather 
of  the  bucket  was 
lengthened.  The  pis- 
ton was  changed  for 
two-ply  of  paste- 
board sewed  togeth- 
er. The  pump  then 
threw  good  water. 
The  engine  went  as 
well  as  ever,  but  al- 
ways waited  a  little 
at  the  top.  1 


FIG.  12.  SECTION  OF  AN  ENGINE  SET  UP  BY  WATT 
AT  CHACEWATER  IN  CORNWALL,  1777 


Embodying  various  improvements  over  the  first  model  of  the 
engine. 


The  difficulties  in  building  the  machine  led  to  the  part- 
nership with  Boulton.  Watt  desired  to  set  up  a  complete 
machine  shop  for  building  the  engines  so  that  they  could 
train  their  own  workmen  and  develop  tools  for  the  purpose. 
It  was  therefore  wholly  in  accord  with  Smeaton's  prophecy 
that  Watt  found  it  quite  as  necessary  to  devote  his  brilliant 
energy  to  building  the  engine  as  to  inventing  it.  Even  at 
the  best,  the  engine  of  the  period  fell  far  short  of  realizing 
the  merits  of  the  design. 

1  Muirhead:  Watt's  Mechanical  Inventions,  i,  66-67. 


328  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

It  was  a  matter  of  the  utmost  difficulty  to  set  an  engine  to  work, 
and  sometimes  a  matter  of  equal  difficulty  to  keep  it  going. 
Persistent  Though  fitted  by  competent  workmen  it  often  would 
trouble  not  go  at  all.  Then  the  foreman  of  the  factory  at 

which  it  was  made  was  sent  for,  and  he  would  almost  live  beside  the 
engine  for  a  month  or  more,  and,  after  easing  her  here  and  screwing 
her  up  there,  putting  in  a  new  part,  and  altering  an  old  one,  packing 
the  piston  and  tightening  the  valves,  the  machine  would  at  length 
be  got  to  work. 

We  have  heard  of  a  piece  of  machinery  of  the  old  school  the 
wheels  of  which,  when  set  to  work,  made  such  a  clatter  that  the 
owner  feared  that  the  engine  would  fall  to  pieces.  The  foreman 
at  last  gave  it  up  in  despair  saying:  "I  believe  we  better  leave  the 
cogs  to  settle  their  differences  with  one  another.  They  will  grind 
themselves  right  in  time."  1 

The  defectiveness  of  these  machines  is  to  be  attributed  in 
the  main  to  the  inadequacy  of  tool-making  equipment.  All 
these  matters  are  substantially  dependent  upon 
the  character  of  the  lathes  available  for  use. 
The  lathe  in  its  early  form  was  no  more  than  a  device  for 
turning  the  work.  The  tools  had  to  be  held  against  the 
work  by  the  workman,  and  scarce  any  one  could  achieve 
significant  accuracy  when  the  harder  metals  were  involved. 
Metal-  and  wood-working  were  both  at  a  very  low  ebb,  and 
England  was  far  behind  France  in  these  respects.  The  im- 
provement of  the  lathe,  however,  was  achieved  independ- 
ently in  England. 

In  1794  Maudsley  developed  the  slide  rest  which  became 
the  beginning  of  notable  departures  in  tool-making  and 
metal-working.  The  slide  rest  was  merely  a  device  for 
holding  the  tool  against  the  work,  but  its  significance  could 
scarcely  be  overestimated.  "It  is  not  saying  too  much," 
The  slide  says  Naysmith,  "to  state  that  its  influence  in 
rest  improving  and  extending  the  use  of  machinery 

has  been  as  great  as  that  produced  by  the  improvement  of 
the  steam  engine.  How  could  we  have  good  steam  engines, 
if  we  had  no  means  of  boring  a  true  cylinder  or  turning  a 
true  piston  rod,  or  planing  a  valve  face?"  The  lathe  was 

1  Smiles,  S. :  Industrial  Biography,  181,  and  note. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    329 

brought  to  some  measure  of  efficiency  by  improvements  of 
Clement  and  assumed  stable  form  by  1818. 

The  details  of  the  tool-making  inventions  are  so  technical 
that  general  description  is  scarcely  possible,  but  the  progress 
of  mechanical  development  cannot  be  adequately  appre- 
ciated unless  the  date  and  significance  of  these  highly  tech- 
nical inventions  are  clearly  recognized.  Watt's  desperate 
struggle  with  his  invention  was  wholly  due  to  the  absence 
of  such  facilities,  and  the  rapid  mechanical  development  of 
the  nineteenth  century  was  made  possible  by  these  sub- 
sidiary inventions. 

III.  THE  METALLURGICAL  PROBLEMS  OF  THE  IRON 
INDUSTRY 

The  introduction  of  remodeled  furnaces  and  the  new  fuel 
resulted  in  the  systematic  production  of  pig  iron.  The  in- 
dustry thus  faced  an  intricate  metallurgical  problem:  eco- 


FIQ.  13.  THE  REVERBEHATOBT  FURNACE 

nomical  conversion  of  pigs  into  wrought  iron  or  steel.  There 
was  no  chemical  knowledge  at  all  sufficient  for  the  solution 
of  these  problems.  The  accomplishments  were  therefore 
slow  and  hesitant.  The  conversion  of  pig  iron  into  other 
forms  required  reheating,  and  as  the  iron  already  contained 
too  much  carbon,  it  was  out  of  the  question  to  bring  the 
metal  again  into  direct  contact  with  the  fuel.  The  elimi- 
nation of  the  carbon  could  be  brought  about  only  by  some 
form  of  combustion,  most  readily  produced  by  stirring  the 


330  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

molten  cast  iron  in  a  shallow  furnace  over  which  were  passed 
the  heated  gases  from  the  fire.  The  reverberatory  furnace 
The  reverbera-  was  used  as  early  as  1766,  when  it  was  patented 
tory  furnace  by  ^  brothers  Thomas  and  George  Cranage. 
The  process  of  puddling  was  occasionally  used  at  Coal- 
brookdale,  but  not  generally  introduced.  The  Cranages  do 
not  seem  to  have  developed  puddling.  In  1783  Peter 
Onions  patented  a  reverberatory  furnace  and  a  puddling 
process.  The  specifications  contain  an  unusually  complete 
description  of  the  process: 

There  are  two  furnaces  used  in  this  operation  or  invention,  to  wit, 
a  common  furnace,  in  which  the  iron  ore  or  metal  is  put  and  there 
smelted  or  melted,  and  another  furnace  which  is  made  of  stone  and 
brick  and  other  materials,  as  usual,  and  fit  to  resist  the  force  of  fire, 
and  bound  with  iron  work  and  well  annealed,  and  into  which  the 
fluid  iron  or  metal  is  received  from  the  common  furnace  or  smelting 
blast  in  its  hot  liquid  state,  and  when  so  received  is  worked  or  re- 
fined as  follows:  A  quantity  or  stream  of  cold  water  must  then  be 
run  or  be  put  into  the  cistern  or  trough  under  the  ash  grate  of  the 
refining  furnace,  and  the  doors  thereof  closed  and  luted  with  sand 
or  lome,  and  the  fire  place  filled  with  fuel  of  pit-coal,  coaks,  or  wood 
charcoal,  from  time  to  time  as  occasion  requires,  and  then  the  com- 
mon bellows,  cylinder  or  usual  machine  for  blowing  or  pumping  air 
into  the  space  below  the  ash  grate  through  the  tubes,  is  begun  to  be 
worked,  and  the  fire  excited  by  the  air  until  the  cavity  is  sufficiently 
heated,  and  then  the  hot  liquid  iron  metal  is  taken  and  carried  in 
iron  ladles  from  the  above  common  furnace  and  poured  into  the 
refining  furnace  through  an  iron  door  or  apperature  raised  by  a 
lever;  then  the  said  apperature  is  stopped,  and  the  blast  of  air  and 
p  ddr  ^e  ^re  use(^  until  the  metal  becomes  less  fluid  and 

thickens  into  a  kind  of  paste,  which  the  workman,  by 
opening  the  door,  turns  and  stirs  with  a  bar  or  other  iron  instru- 
ment or  tool,  and  then  closes  the  apperature  again,  and  must  apply 
the  blast  of  air  and  fire  until  there  is  a  ferment  in  the  metal:  and 
if  no  ferment  ensues,  then  he  must  turn  or  convey  the  blast  of  cold 
air  through  the  tube  upon  the  matter,  which  will  excite  a  kind  of 
ferment  or  scoriafication  in  the  matter  or  metal;  and  as  the  workman 
stirs  or  turns  the  metal  it  will  discharge  or  separate  a  portion  of 
scoria  or  cinder  from  it,  and  then  the  particles  of  iron  will  adhere 
and  separate  from  the  scoria,  which  particles  the  workman  must 
collect  or  gather  into  a  mass  or  lump,  and  then  shut  the  door  and 
heat  the  mass  until  the  same  become  of  a  white  color,  and  then  take 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    331 

or  convey  out  of  the  furnace,  with  a  bar  of  iron  or  tongs,  the  said 
mass  or  lump  to  the  forge  hammer,  and  there  by  repeated  blows, 
squeeze  or  beat  out  the  remaining  scoria  or  cinder,  when  a  mass  of 
malleable  iron  will  be  formed  into  an  octagonal  or  other  bar  called 
a  loop,  which  bar  may  be  then  or  at  any  time  heated  in  a  fire,  and 
worked  by  the  workman  and  the  forge  hammer  into  rods  and  bars 
of  iron,  for  various  purposes.1. . . 

This  description  covers  all  the  essential  features  of  the 
process  that  is  usually  associated  with  the  name  of  Henry 
Cort,  and  it  is  not  easy  to  discover  now  pre-  _ 

.    .      i  f    Henry  Cort 

cisely  what  was  the  original  contribution  of 
the  various  individuals.  Cort's  refining  or  reverberatory 
furnace  differed  from  that  of  Onions  in  a  number  of  details, 
so  that  one  may  perhaps  assume  that  in  this  case,  as  in  many 
others,  the  bare  abstract  idea  of  the  process  was  the  least 
original  feature  of  the  invention.  The  great  difficulties 
seem  to  have  been  encountered  in  the  perfection  of  the  de- 
tails of  the  process,  and  in  this  respect  there  can  be  no  doubt 
of  the  significance  of  Cort's  work.  It  was  due  to  his  energy 
that  this  process  became  a  commercially  important  method 
of  refining  pig  iron. 

The  next  stage  of  the  process  of  refining  was  also  notably 
transformed  though  not  invented  by  Cort.  The  iron  taken 
from  the  puddling  furnace  had  to  be  worked  „ 

111  ,1  i          ',      i-  •      Rolling  nulls 

under  the  hammer  partly  to  clear  it  of  certain 
residual  scoria  and  cinder,  partly  to  shape  it  for  further  use. 
This  work,  especially  the  shaping  of  the  malleable  iron,  has 
come  to  be  done  by  rolling  mills:  series  of  notched  and 
grooved  rollers  which  impart  to  the  hot  metal  the  shape  of 
the  space  left  between  the  rolls.  The  use  of  rolls  of  this 
type  for  the  shaping  of  metal  was  suggested  as  early  as  1728, 
but  the  moderate  mechanical  equipment  of  the  time  con- 
fined the  use  of  such  apparatus  to  the  preparation  of  small 
pieces,  such  as  bolts  and  bars.  The  use  of  rolling  mills  thus 
developed  gradually.  The  final  extension  of  the  process  to 
the  welding  of  composite  bars  and  the  shaping  of  all  types 
of  material  was  the  work  of  Purnell  and  Cort. 
.  l  British  Patents,  vol.  14,  no.  1370. 


332 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


Until  these  mills  were  introduced  nothing  could  be  accom- 
plished that  was  not  within  the  scope  of  hammering.  The 
trip-hammer  was  an  established  feature  of  the  industry,  but 
its  limitations  were  very  considerable.  The  rolling  mills 


FIG.  14.  PUBNELL'S  ROLLS 

introduced  a  number  of  new  products.  In  the  first  place  it 
was  possible  to  work  up  iron  bars  of  varying  composition, 
relatively  hard  grades  of  iron  or  steel  for  the  wearing  surfaces 
while  pure  wrought  iron  was  put  hi  the  center  of  the  bar  to 
increase  its  tensile  strength.  Structural  use  of  iron  in  the 
half  century  that  followed  was  largely  dependent  upon  the 
increased  delicacy  of  manipulation  thus  made  possible. 

The  most  unique  product  of  the  rolling  mill,  however,  was 
its  simplest  product,  sheet  iron.  The  use  of  plain  rolls  set 
at  varying  degrees  of  closeness  made  it  possible 
to  produce  large  sheets  of  malleable  iron.  This 
led  to  the  construction  of  tanks,  boilers,  and  iron  ships,  and 
all  these  developments  followed  very  rapidly  upon  the  intro- 
duction of  the  rolling  mill.  The  first  iron  vessel  was  a  canal- 
boat,  built  hi  July,  1787,  by  John  Wilkinson  of  Birmingham. 
This  boat  was  seventy  feet  long  and  six  feet  eight  inches 
wide.  It  was  made  of  plates  five  sixteenths  of  an  inch  thick. 
Stem  and  stern  posts  were  of  wood.  There  was  a  good  deal 
of  canal-boat  building  at  that  time,  and  it  may  be  that  we 
are  not  well  informed  as  to  all  the  details  of  these  early 
experiments. 


Sheet  iron 


334  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Richard  Trevithick  developed  many  applications  in  the 
use  of  tanks  and  boilers.  Strangely  enough  people  hesitated 
to  use  iron  tanks  for  containing  drinking  water.  About 
1808  accidental  discovery  that  water  standing  in  an  old* 
boiler  had  no  unpleasant  taste  or  smell  led  to  an  extensive 
development  in  the  use  of  iron  for  the  construction  of  storage 
tanks  on  shipboard. 

The  use  of  iron  in  shipbuilding  is  advantageous  because  of 
its  greater  strength  and  also  because  it  increases  the  carrying 
capacity  of  the  vessel,  bulk  for  bulk.  The  hulk  of  a  wooden 
vessel  weighs  about  55  per  cent  of  its  total  displacement; 
the  hull  of  an  iron  vessel,  about  35  per  cent;  and  of  a  steel 
vessel,  only  25  per  cent. 

IV.  SIR  HENRY  BESSEMER 

The  career  of  Henry  Bessemer  is  significant  hi  two  re- 
spects. His  career  as  a  whole  represents  the  culmination  of 
Bessemer's  the  changes  wrought  by  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
career  fton  jje  js  one  of  ^ne  fij^  inventors  to  achieve 

great  wealth.  This  aspect  of  his  career  is  therefore  of  sig- 
nificance in  tracing  the  general  industrial  change,  and  in 
studying  the  relation  of  unproved  social  technique  to  indi- 
vidual qualities.  Bessemer  typifies  the  period  of  achieve- 
ment as  dramatically  as  Watt  and  Crompton  represent  the 
unremunerated  struggle  of  the  early  period.  Crompton  re- 
ceived nothing  for  his  invention  until  a  Parliamentary  pen- 
sion was  granted  him  late  in  life.  Watt  achieved  a  modest 
competence.  Bessemer  made  several  fortunes. 

Bessemer  was  born  in  1813  in  a  small  town  in  Hertford- 
shire. His  father  was  a  manufacturer  of  gold  chains  which 
were  executed  with  steel  dies.  The  boy  was  given  oppor- 
tunities for  a  good  deal  of  mechanical  work.  He  received 
some  training  in  lathe  and  shop  work,  and  did  amateur  work 
of  various  kinds.  His  chief  interest  at  this  time  was  mould- 
ing and  the  making  of  castings  of  fragile  things.  The  de- 
velopment of  some  of  this  work  led  him  to  the  discovery 
that  the  embossed  stamps  used  by  the  Government  Revenue 
Department  might  easily  be  counterfeited,  and  he  was  at 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    335 

much  pains  to  instruct  the  Government  in  means  to  prevent 
it.  The  Government  utilized  his  process  and  his  knight- 
hood was  conferred  on  him  nearly  a  generation  later  hi 
recognition  of  this  assistance  for  which  he  had  never  re- 
ceived any  adequate  financial  compensation.  This  work  on 
the  Government  stamps  was  the  first  of  his  adventures  hi 
London,  the  beginning  of  an  attempt  at  earning  a  living  by 
invention. 

It  would  be  somewhat  of  an  exaggeration  to  suggest  that 
Bessemer  deliberately  embarked  upon  a  career  of  profes- 
sional invention,  but  while  the  design  was  never  , 

i        „  1.1.  -11          i        Early  projects 

consciously  formulated  in  his  mind  the  de- 
scription of  what  he  actually  did  can  hardly  be  expressed  hi 
other  terms.  His  mind  was  full  of  schemes:  economical 
methods  of  sawing  plumbago  and  compressing  the  dust  to 
make  lead  pencils,  type-casting  by  machinery,  a  type-setting 
machine,  a  method  for  embossing  velvet  by  a  cylindrical 
press.  These  were  the  more  important  schemes  which  filled 
the  year  1838.  The  velvet  embossing  proved  to  be  a  suc- 
cess and  might  have  constituted  a  permanent  employment, 
but  Bessemer's  mind  was  too  fertile  hi  new  schemes  to 
limit  his  attention  to  any  single  business. 

Shortly  after  the  embossing  of  velvet  was  successfully  ac- 
complished Bessemer  had  occasion  to  do  a  little  gilt  letter- 
ing for  his  sister.  She  had  asked  him  to  decorate  the  cover 
of  an  album  of  sketches,  and  his  attention  was  attracted  to 
the  character  of  the  stuff  sold  him  hi  the  shops  for  this  pur- 
pose. He  bought  this  gilt  powder  at  a  price  which  would 
be  consistent  with  the  price  of  gold,  but  Bessemer  suspected 
its  genuineness  and  was  moved  to  apply  the  acid  test  which 
revealed  the  fact  that  this  gilt  powder  was  mere 
bronze.  The  discovery  challenged  his  atten- 
tion. It  seemed  so  particularly  worth  while  to  know  how 
one  might  convert  brass  into  a  substance  having  the  value 
of  gold.  It  seemed  almost  like  the  transmutation  of  metals. 
He  discovered  by  a  careful  search  in  the  British  Museum 
that  the  bronze  powder  was  manufactured  by  a  most  labo- 
rious hand  process.  Little  sheets  of  bronze  were  hammered 


336  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

out  between  gold-beaters'  skins,  and  the  bronze  leaf  thus 
obtained  was  subsequently  pulverized. 

Now  it  seemed  to  Bessemer  that  there  could  be  no  great 
difficulty  in  preparing  bronze  powder  by  mechanical  means. 
He  proposed  to  himself  to  rule  thin  sheets  of  bronze  in  a 
cross-hatched  pattern  so  that  there  would  be  a  large  number 
of  little  particles  standing  on  end.  These  would  then  be 
shaved  off  with  a  knife  and  there  would  be  a  bronze  powder. 
Experiments  revealed  the  fact  that  bronze  powder  could  be 
obtained,  but  it  was  wholly  unlike  the  bronze  powder  of 
commerce;  there  was  no  brilliance,  none  of  the  gilt  quality. 
The  failure  of  this  attempt  seemed  complete,  but  his  at- 
tention was  called  to  the  value  of  microscopic  examination 
in  a  wholly  accidental  fashion  and  he  was  moved  to  compare 
under  the  microscope  the  bronze  powder  of  commerce  with 
his  bronze  dust.  His  powder  was  really  a  mass  of  crude 
little  shavings,  bright  on  one  side  and  hopelessly  dull  on  the 
other. 

This  gave  him  a  sufficient  start  and  the  process  was  trans- 
formed and  developed  with  a  view  to  obtaining  this  slightly 
A  mechanical  different  result.  The  character  of  these  new 
process  features  is  not  wholly  revealed  in  the  auto- 

biography. The  process  was  deliberately  kept  secret. 
When  the  plans  were  perfected,  Bessemer  decided  that  the 
process  was  too  simple  to  be  adequately  protected  by  patent, 
and  consequently  resolved  to  secure  the  benefits  of  his  in- 
vention by  absolute  secrecy.  This  involved  the  mainte- 
nance of  secrecy  in  getting  the  machinery  built  as  well  as 
secrecy  in  the  operation  of  the  works.  To  guarantee  secrecy 
during  the  building  of  the  machinery  it  was  necessary  to 
award  the  contracts  for  the  various  machines  to  a  number 
of  firms,  giving  each  firm  a  contract  for  the  parts  of  several 
machines  and  thus  withholding  all  knowledge  of  the  purpose 
for  which  these  various  parts  were  to  be  used.  This  was,  of 
A  test  of  ma-  course,  a  very  severe  test  for  the  various  ma- 
chine shops  chine  shops.  It  is  very  rare  that  a  shop  is 
required  to  rely  entirely  upon  drawings,  and  there  is  usually 
opportunity  to  test  the  accuracy  of  the  work  done  by  partial 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    337 

or  complete  assembling  of  the  machine.  Bessemer  had  drawn 
out  his  machine  in  complete  detail  and  the  various  shops 
were  charged  with  executing  the  designs. 

To  insure  secrecy  of  operation  the  machinery  was  de- 
signed to  be  completely  automatic.  There  would  be  noth- 
ing to  do  but  feed  the  machines  and  take  away  The  facto 
the  product.  The  factory  could  thus  be  oper- 
ated with  an  engineer  and  Bessemer's  brothers-in-law;  and 
the  engineer  was  not  to  know  any  secrets.  The  boiler-room 
was  separated  from  the  business  part  of  the  factory  by  a 
brick  wall  with  no  opening  except  what  was  indispensable 
for  the  transmission  of  power.  The  freight  entrance  was 
provided  with  double  locks  and  door,  a  kind  of  air  chamber 
in  fact  to  which  the  draymen  were  admitted  only  after  the 
inside  door  had  been  carefully  locked  and  from  which  they 
were  carefully  excluded  before  that  inside  door  was  ever 
opened.  For  forty  years  no  one  other  than  the  three  men 
ever  crossed  the  threshold  of  that  factory.  The  machinery 
was  designed  furthermore  with  reference  to  being  set  up  by 
these  three  men  without  further  assistance  and  this  required 
a  number  of  special  features  in  design  for  the  heavier  castings. 

In  1843  the  various  parts  were  delivered  at  the  outer 
door  and  the  machines  assembled  by  Bessemer  and  his 
brothers-in-law;  the  power  was  gotten  up,  and  finally  turned 
on.  The  results  were  rather  different  from  those  that  char- 
acterized the  assembling  of  early  steam  engines  in  the  days 
of  Watt.  These  machines  whose  entire  plan  had  been  known 
only  to  the  inventor  had  been  so  carefully  executed  that 
there  was  no  significant  change  to  be  made  hi  complete 
any  respect.  The  process  was  a  complete  sue-  success 
cess  mechanically  and  economically.  At  a  cost  of  about 
twenty-five  cents  a  product  was  secured  that  would  sell  for 
very  nearly  five  dollars.  The  only  obstacle  to  complete 
domination  of  the  market  was  sufficient  knowledge  of  sundry 
metallurgical  details  that  would  be  necessary  to  produce 
the  different  colors  of  gilding  powders.  Bessemer  proceeded 
to  place  his  product  through  a  broker  at  a  little  less  than 
the  cost  of  production  hi  Germany  where  the  hand-made 


338  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

powder  came  from.  He  was  personally  waited  upon  by 
representatives  of  the  German  trade,  and  it  was  intimated 
that  such  severe  competition  could  mean  nothing  but  dis- 
aster to  all.  Bessemer  failed  to  see  any  imminent  disaster 
and  refused  to  put  the  price  any  higher. 

The  German  trade  was  practically  killed,  but  before  the 
Germans  abandoned  all  hope  an  attempt  was  made  to  learn 
German  the  secret.  An  agent  came  from  Niirnberg 

interests  an(j  attempted  to  study  the  in-going  and  out- 

going employees  and  employers  at  the  factory.  His  em- 
barrassment was  the  failure  to  see  any  employees,  but  he 
finally  pitched  upon  the  engineer  and  endeavored  to  secure 
information  from  him.  The  engineer  promptly  informed 
Bessemer  of  these  attempts  and  at  Bessemer's  suggestion 
agreed  to  arrange  a  meeting  between  the  German  agent  and 
Mr.  Bessemer  himself.  At  the  appointed  time  Bessemer  hi 
tasteful  workingman's  attire  met  the  agent  in  a  neighboring 
ale-house,  and,  for  a  consideration,  imparted  some  very- 
wonderful  information  on  the  subject  of  bronze  powder- 
making.  This  information  was  of  such  a  remarkable  char- 
acter that  when  Mr.  Bessemer  happened  to  pass  through 
Niirnberg  a  good  many  years  later  he  was  waited  upon  dur- 
ing the  first  evening  of  his  stay  by  a  representative  of  the 
Police  Department.  He  was  told  that  the  authorities  would 
assume  no  responsibility  for  his  personal  safety  unless  he 
were  willing  to  be  escorted  by  a  bodyguard  of  gendarmes. 
So  Mr.  Bessemer  and  his  party  saw  the  sights  of  Niirnberg 
under  escort. 

The  bronze  powder  establishment  indicates  to  a  remark- 
able extent  the  technical  advance  hi  machine-building  that 
A  .,  took  place  between  1800  and  1840.  In  1800 

A  milestone          , ,       ,     .  •,-,.•,  i  ,r™ 

the  designs  could  not  have  been  executed.  The 
possibility  of  meeting  such  a  test  even  with  relatively 
simple  machinery  is  the  first  decisive  indication  of  the  ap- 
proaching maturity  of  the  mechanical  technique  which  is 
the  characteristic  feature  of  modern  industrial  develop- 
ments. The  achievement  of  such  technical  results,  too,  was 
profoundly  significant  to  inventors.  Unless  something 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    339 

startlingly  new  were  done  it  was  no  longer  necessary  for  an 
inventor  to  wear  out  his  life  building  his  machine.  The 
profits  of  invention  were  thus  brought  more  nearly  within 
reach  of  the  inventor  who  began  to  feel  the  economic  ad- 
vantage of  improvements  in  machinery  which  in  the  old 
days  was  seldom  if  ever  realized  by  the  inventors  them- 
selves, and  even  if  some  gains  were  forthcoming  as  was  the 
case  with  Arkwright  it  was  never  the  full  measure  of  the 
mechanical  value  of  the  inventions.  Before  the  inventor 
could  achieve  significant  success  it  was  essential  that  the 
society  around  him  should  be  able  to  execute  and  utilize 
new  ideas.  No  great  mechanical  achievements  were  possible 
until  the  general  mechanical  capacity  of  the  age  had  attained 
significant  standards  of  accuracy  and  versatility. 

The  significance  to  the  inventor  of  delegating  the  execu- 
tion of  designs  must  be  fully  evident.  Until  the  effort  of 
building  a  machine  can  be  transferred  to  other  . 

,,,.,          .  .         .  •     M      •          A  rich  inventor 

shoulders,  further  invention  is  practically  mi- 
possible.  The  powers  of  an  inventor  can  thus  be  given  a 
more  adequate  expression  in  conjunction  with  significant 
technical  capacities  in  society  at  large,  and  this  was  the 
case  with  Bessemer.  The  bronze  powder  establishment 
afforded  him  more  than  a  comfortable  maintenance,  and  he 
straightway  created  laboratories  and  drafting-rooms  for  the 
development  of  new  ideas.  The  enumeration  of  all  his 
projects  would  be  tedious.  A  good  many  matters  were 
studied  that  led  to  no  particular  conclusion,  particularly 
problems  connected  with  glass-making.  Bessemer  came 
upon  a  number  of  important  ideas,  but  developed  none  of 
them.  In  connection  with  the  Crystal  Palace  Exhibition  of 
1851  a  prize  was  offered  for  a  new  type  of  cane-sugar  press. 
Bessemer  was  interested  hi  the  project  and  turned  in  a 
machine  which  won  the  competition.  The  affair  does  not 
seem  to  have  engaged  his  attention  for  very  long  and  the 
idea  of  the  machine  is  essentially  simple,  but  it  reduced  the 
weight  of  the  sugar  press  to  an  extraordinary  degree  and  in- 
creased its  effectiveness  in  the  extraction  of  juice.  The  press 
is  still  used,  though  it  is  not  now  the  most  common  form  of 
press. 


340  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

In  1853  he  began  some  experiments  with  projectiles.  He 
proposed  to  develop  a  rifled  projectile  to  be  discharged  from 
Projectiles  smooth-bore  guns.  Instead  of  establishing  the 
and  guns  rotation  of  the  projectile  by  rifling  on  the  barrel 
of  the  gun  he  proposed  to  accomplish  the  same  object  by  the 
action  of  the  gases  on  slots  cut  in  the  bottom  of  the  pro- 
jectile according  to  the  principles  of  the  whirligig  water 
fountain.  By  properly  designed  slots  the  tangential  force 
of  the  escaping  gases  would  set  up  the  desired  rotary  motion. 
To  demonstrate  this  principle  Bessemer  prepared  a  dummy 
projectile  that  would  fit  the  ordinary  water  tumbler  so  that 
he  could  demonstrate  his  new  idea  at  dinner  parties.  It 
proved  impossible  to  interest  the  British  ordnance  author- 
ities in  this  project,  but  he  arranged  for  a  meeting  with 
the  officers  of  the  French  army  and  in  December,  1854,  a 
test  was  made  at  Versailles.  Some  projectiles  prepared 
by  Bessemer  were  shot  from  ordinary  cannon  with  results 
wholly  in  accord  with  Bessemer's  statements.  The  French 
officials,  however,  declared  that  such  departures  in  artillery 
were  not  then  feasible  as  the  cast-iron  guns  were  not  strong 
enough  to  stand  the  higher  charges  used. 

This  suggested  to  Mr.  Bessemer  the  desirability  of  im- 
proving the  quality  of  iron  and  steel.  At  that  time  there 
,  ..  was  no  steel  suitable  for  structural  purposes. 

Steel-making        /->•        .«  i  i      «•  i«t  i  111 

Crucible  steel  ot  very  nigh  grade  could  be  pre- 
pared and  the  less  reliable  kinds  of  steel  from  which  crucible 
steel  was  prepared  were  attainable,  though  at  high  cost. 
Steel  cost  two  hundred  and  fifty  to  three  hundred  dollars  per 
ton.  He  set  out  in  his  experiments  with  the  principle  of 
adding  carbon  by  the  fusion  of  small  quantities  of  crucible 
steel  with  malleable  iron  hi  a  reverberatory  furnace.  His 
chief  problem  was  to  secure  a  sufficient  degree  of  heat.  In 
order  to  raise  the  temperature  hi  the  furnace  a  hot-air  blast 
was  turned  in  to  assist  in  the  combustion  of  gases  that  usually 
escaped.  This  general  process  is  hi  substantial  outline  the 
open-hearth  process  usually  known  as  the  Siemens-Martin 
process.  Bessemer  patented  the  process  and  the  originality 
of  his  work  can  scarcely  be  contested,  though  he  abandoned 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    341 

this  line  of  development  when  the  idea  of  decarburization 
was  suggested. 

The  fundamental  suggestion  for  his  converter  came  to 
him  incidentally.  A  hole  in  the  furnace  had  been  stopped 
with  a  piece  of  pig  iron  and  he  observed  that  it  suggestion  for 
was  very  completely  free  of  carbon  after  a  con-  the  converter 
siderable  heating  of  the  furnace.  These  tendencies  had 
been  observed  by  others  hi  connection  with  the  use  of  hot- 
air  blasts,  but  no  particular  consequences  drawn  from  them. 
It  then  occurred  to  him  that  he  could  accomplish  more  than 
mere  production  of  steel  from  malleable  iron  and  he  now  set 
to  work  to  produce  malleable  iron  from  pig  iron  without 
puddling  or  rolling.  He  proposed  to  accomplish  this  by  in- 
ternal combustion.  The  principle  is  precisely  the  same  as 
that  of  puddling,  though  Bessemer  proposed  a  very  much 
more  intense  kind  of  internal  combustion,  a  process  suf- 
ficiently vigorous  to  dispense  with  all  stirring  by  hand.  The 
first  experiments  were  conducted  in  crucibles  that  were 
heated  externally  and  after  some  moderate  success  he  set  to 
work  to  create  a  sufficiently  powerful  blast  to  develop  in- 
ternal combustion  adequate  to  maintaining  the  metal  in  its 
liquid  state. 

An  experiment  was  tried  with  results  equivalent  to  the 
eruption  of  a  small  volcano.  The  violence  far  surpassed 
anything  that  Bessemer  had  expected.  The  , 

TTt.  i  •     i      e      u    L   Decarburization 

results,  however,  were  merely  typical  of  what 
is  happening  now  in  thousands  of  Bessemer  converters. 
Shortly  after  the  blast  is  turned  on  there  is  a  tremendous 
shower  of  sparks  produced  by  the  combustion  of  the  silicon. 
This  is  the  impurity  that  used  to  be  hammered  out  of  the 
iron  at  the  forge.  After  an  interval,  the  violence  of  the 
display  abates  and  finally  ceases.  An  interval  of  relative 
quiescence  is  followed  by  a  more  considerable  display  of 
fireworks.  The  metal  in  the  converter  boils  violently  with 
explosions  and  there  is  a  great  display  of  sparks.  This 
display  is  the  result  of  internal  combustion  of  the  carbon 
and  when  it  ceases  the  air  blast  is  promptly  shut  off.  The 
product  is  pure  malleable  iron.  The  first  trials  produced 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


an  ingot  weighing  about  seven  hundred  pounds,  purer  than 
could  be  produced  by  puddling. 
These  experiments  were  concluded  in  August,  1856,  and 


LONGITUDINAL   SECTION  THROUGH  MYD9AUUC 
CVUNDCR. 


TRANSVERSE    SECTION  OP  CYUNDER. 


Fio.  16.  BESSEMER  CONVERTING  VESSEL 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    343 

shortly  afterwards  Bessemer  read  a  paper  on  his  process  at 
the  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  pubucan- 
Advancement  of  Science.     The  paper  was  re-  nouncement 
ceived  with  great  excitement  and  many  ironmasters  applied 
at  once  for  rights  to  utilize  the 
process.     Presently  complaints  be- 
gan to  come  in.  Various  ironmas- 
ters declared  that  the  process  was 
a  fraud  and  would  not  work.  They 
spoke  of  Bessemer  with  real  bitter- 
ness and  the  attitude  of  the  iron 
trade  changed  from  one  of  uncriti- 
cal praise  to  equally  uncritical  hos- 
tility.  Bessemer  repeated  his  tests 
with  the  same  results.      It  then 
occurred  to  him  that  there  might 
be  some  difference  in  the  results 
obtained  with  different  kinds  of  pig 
iron. 

The  experiments  when  tried  with  British  pig  iron  pro- 
duced significantly  different  results  from  the  earlier  experi- 
ment in  which  Bessemer  had  used  the  finest  Limitations  of 
Swedish  pig  iron  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  the  Process 
presence  of  phosphorus  in  some  of  the  British  ores  made 
them  wholly  unsuitable  for  this  particular  process  in  the 
production  of  either  malleable  iron  or  steel.  Strangely 
enough  many  of  these  English  ores  were  capable  of  produc- 
ing good  puddled  iron,  but  Bessemer  recognized  that  the 
commercial  use  of  his  process  would  attach  special  value  to 
non-phosphorus-bearing  ores,  and,  with  the  aid  of  a  group 
of  friends,  concessions  in  non-phosphorus-bearing  ore-beds 
in  both  England  and  Spam  were  at  once  obtained.  With 
proper  pig  iron,  malleable  iron  or  steel  could  be  produced  for 
about  thirty-five  dollars  a  ton.  The  development  of  the 
process,  however,  required  a  great  deal  of  application.  All 
the  details  —  form  of  converter,  lining,  production  of  blast, 
and  the  like  —  required  careful  development,  and  Bessemer 
said  later  that  if  he  had  known  as  much  about  the  iron  busi- 


FIG.  17.  VERTICAL  SECTION  op 
THE  BESSEMER  CONVERTER 


344  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ness  when  he  began  as  he  came  to  know  shortly,  he  would 
scarcely  have  had  the  courage  to  attempt  the  project  at 
all.  The  details  of  the  converter  were  not  perfected  until 
1859.  In  the  intervening  period  experiments  were  tried  out 
with  a  great  many  different  forms  and  types,  but  the  con- 
verter of  1859  was  substantially  the  modern  form. 

The  announcement  that  the  Bessemer  process  was  re- 
stricted to  ores  free  from  phosphorus  at  once  challenged  the 
Phosphorus-  attention  of  the  iron  trade.  There  were  sig- 
bearingores  nificant  deposits  of  phosphorus-bearing  ore  in 
England  in  the  Cleveland  district  and  most  German  ores 
were  phosphorus-bearing  ores.  After  the  announcement  of 
the  Bessemer  process  the  price  of  pig  iron  prepared  from 
Bessemer  ores  was  double  that  of  phosphorus-bearing  pig 
iron.  Under  these  circumstances  there  was  a  great  premium 
set  upon  any  development  that  would  modify  other  ores  or 
processes  so  as  to  render  them  suitable  for  use  in  the  con- 
verter. There  was  deliberate  experimentation.  One  of  the 
leading  metallurgists  of  the  time  said  in  1872  that  he  had 
made  over  a  thousand  experiments  to  remove  the  phosphorus. 

In  1878  at  a  meeting  of  the  Iron  and  Steel  Institute  Mr. 
Bell  read  a  paper  proposing  a  method  for  the  removal  of 
phosphorus.  The  process  had  not  been  perfected  and 
proved  to  be  incapable  of  complete  success,  but  the  paper 
called  forth  statements  of  a  simultaneous  discovery  of  an 
Thomas  and  adequate  process  from  Mr.  Snelus  and  Messrs. 
Giichrist  Thomas  and  Gilchrist.  Mr.  Thomas  had  set  to 

work  from  the  point  of  view  of  pure  chemistry.  The  phos- 
phorus was  present  in  the  ore  as  an  acid  and  it  was  his  con- 
viction that  the  phosphorus  could  be  made  to  combine  with 
lime  or  manganese.  The  difficulty  was  largely  to  give  the 
lime  sufficient  hardness  to  make  it  a  practical  lining  for  the 
converter.  After  laboratory  experiments  on  a  small  scale 
he  joined  forces  in  1875  with  a  cousin,  P.  C.  Gilchrist,  who 
was  a  chemist  at  an  iron-works  in  Wales.  Tentative  trials 
were  made  for  a  year  and  a  half.  In  June,  1877,  the  director 
of  the  Blaenavon  Works  gave  them  facilities  for  experiments 
on  a  larger  scale.  The  process  of  preparing  the  basic  lining 
was  perfected. 


THE  REORGANIZATION  OF  THE  METAL  TRADES    345 

In  the  winter  of  that  same  year  patents  were  taken  out 
and  a  paper  prepared  for  a  meeting  of  the  Iron  and  Steel 
Institute  at  Paris  in  February,  1878,  but  the  paper  was 
scarcely  noticed.  The  discovery  was  announced  to  the 
manager  of  some  of  the  Cleveland  iron-works  and  further 
experiments  were  made.  A  public  demonstration  was  given 
April  4,  1879,  which  attracted  great  attention.  Ironmasters 
came  to  Middlesborough  from  Belgium,  France,  The  basic 
Prussia,  Austria,  and  the  United  States.  Process 
Shortly  after  this  there  was  a  meeting  of  the  Iron  and  Steel 
Institute  at  London  in  which  the  young  chemists  read  a 
paper  and  discussion  was  held.  After  the  meeting,  Middles- 
borough  was  again  besieged  and  the  process  again  studied. 
The  process  was  perfected  in  its  mechanical  details  as  early 
as  1881 ;  simultaneously,  in  England  and  on  the  Continent. 
Patent  rights  were  purchased  by  German  firms  and  some 
attempts  were  made  to  manufacture  by  the  process  outside 
of  the  patent.  The  validity  of  the  patents  was  attacked, 
but  successfully  defended  and  under  that  patent  the  iron 
and  steel  industry  assumed  its  present  form. 

The  most  dramatic  consequence  of  this  technical  develop- 
ment was  the  bringing  into  the  market  of  the  great  masses 
of  the  Lorraine  ores;  up  to  that  tune  practically  valueless. 
By  reason  of  the  successful  development  of  this  process  they 
attained  commercial  significance  and  the  immense  quantity 
of  them  at  once  rendered  them  the  most  important  single 
source  of  iron  in  Continental  Europe.  This  immense  supply 
of  iron  became  the  basis  of  the  development  of  the  iron 
industries  of  Germany  and  resulted  in  the  displacements 
between  Great  Britain  and  Germany  that  have  had  such 
serious  political  consequences. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM 

I.  THE  DEFINITION  OF  A  FACTORY 

DESCRIPTION  of  the  genesis  of  the  modern  factory  is  dif- 
ficult because  all  historical  accounts  are  so  profoundly 
influenced  by  the  definition  of  the  factory.  Accounts  that 
may  seem  to  differ  in  important  details  represent  merely 
different  conceptions  of  the  thing  described.  It  would  seem 
desirable  that  the  matter  be  approached  from  a  purely 
historical  point  of  view,  without  the  prejudices  created  by 
elaborately  formulated  notions  of  the  factory.  It  is  of 
course  impossible  to  avoid  definition  even  in  a  purely 
historical  account,  but  if  the  ideal  of  historical  investigation 
is  achieved  these  definitions  will  be  an  interpretation  of 
events  that  occurred  rather  than  an  artificial  form  or  mould 
into  which  events  have  been  crowded  with  Procrustean 
indifference  to  the  adaptability  of  the  events  to  the  mould. 

The  preconceived  notions  that  are  most  likely  to  cause 
confusion  appear  both  in  popular  conceptions  of  the  factory 
common  and  in  some  special  writing.  These  views  are 
definitions  therefore  peculiarly  dangerous.  The  presence 
of  machinery  in  the  factory  and  the  relatively  large  scale  of 
production  both  seem  to  be  highly  characteristic  features,  so 
that  it  is  not  strange  to  find  these  elements  emphasized  as 
the  fundamental  features  of  the  factory.  The  early  English 
factory  acts;  Dr.  Ure,  a  sympathetic  observer;  and  Marx,  a 
most  bitter  critic  were  united  in  the  opinion  that  machinery 
made  the  factory.  It  became  necessary  to  distinguish  the 
tool  from  the  machine,  but  though  there  were  difficulties 
they  did  not  seem  insuperable.  This  was  largely  in  accord 
with  the  opinions  of  the  average  citizen.  In  the  words  of 
Marx,  the  instruments  of  labor  employed  the  workman; 
instead  of  being  the  foundation  of  the  industrial  process  the 
workman  became  an  incidental  feature  of  the  productive 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    347 

system,  his  numbers  determined  by  the  needs  of  the  ma- 
chines, his  skill  subordinated  to  the  ingenuity  of  the.  new 
contrivance.  Ure  describes  the  factory  in  less  forceful  lan- 
guage, "a  vast  automaton,  composed  of  various  mechanical 
and  intellectual  organs,  acting  hi  uninterrupted  concert  for 
the  production  of  a  common  object,  all  of  them  being  sub- 
ordinate to  a  self-regulated  moving  force."  Legislative  defi- 
nitions and  census  enumerations  generally  define  the  fac- 
tory in  terms  of  numbers;  it  is  of  course  freely  recognized 
that  such  definitions  are  somewhat  artificial,  but  it  is  none 
the  less  easy  to  assume  that  the  essential  feature  of  the  fac- 
tory consists  in  the  number  of  hands  employed. 

The  other  aspect  of  the  factory  has  also  been  the  basis  of 
distinctions  from  the  outset:  the  factory  workers  are  gathered 
together  hi  buildings  or  rooms  wholly  devoted  Numbers  and 
to  their  work;  the  establishment  does  not  serve  disciPline 
as  a  home  for  either  employer  or  employee.  The  aggrega- 
tion of  workers  created  new  problems  of  discipline.  When 
work  was  done  in  the  household  no  regularity  of  hours  was 
necessary.  The  craft-worker  enjoyed  considerable  freedom 
as  to  the  manner  and  time  of  doing  such  work  as  was  nec- 
essary for  his  support.  Even  when  the  putting-out  system 
had  become  elaborately  organized  it  was  not  possible  to 
exert  much  pressure  on  the  workers  as  to  the  tune  of  finishing 
the  work  allotted  to  them.  The  aggregation  of  the  workers 
in  factories  made  it  possible  to  improve  the  timing  of  the 
productive  process;  the  work  could  be  made  to  flow  along 
without  interruptions;  no  group  of  workers  need  be  obliged 
to  .wait  for  the  group  engaged  on  the  earlier  stages  of  the 
work.  The  division  of  labor  that  existed  under  the  putting- 
out  system  could  thus  be  more  effectively  carried  out,  but 
on  one  condition  —  the  subjection  of  the  whole  body  of 
workmen  to  a  systematic  schedule. 

The  organization  of  factories  thus  gave  a  different  mean- 
ing to  the  relation  between  the  capitalist  employer  and 
the  workman.    The  dependence  of  the  worker  capitalism 
on  the  capitalist  was  not  increased;  under  the  notnew 
putting-out  system  every  possible  degree  of  dependence 


348  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

existed:  at  an  early  date  it  became  common  for  the  capitalist 
to  own  the  machines  or  tools,  and  in  the  later  phases  of  this 
system  the  capitalists  owned  the  entire  establishment.  The 
Hand-Loom  Weavers'  Commissioners  reported  that  a  firm 
at  Newark,  Notts,  employed  about  one  hundred  weavers 
in  cottages;  "the  system  is  for  the  manufacturer  to  build 
cottages  adapted  for  weavers,  and  filled  up  with  looms,  and 
to  let  these  cottages  at  a  moderate  weekly  rental:  every 
weaver  taking  a  house  and  not  having  a  family  sublet 
portions  of  the  cottage."  The  gathering  together  of  such 
cottage  workers  into  a  factory  involved  only  one  change; 
the  introduction  of  discipline.  The  capitalist  employer  be- 
came a  supervisor  of  every  detail  of  the  work;  without  any 
change  in  the  general  character  of  the  wage  contract,  the 
employer  acquired  new  powers  which  were  of  great  social 
significance.  He  acquired  authority  which  was  irksome  to 
the  men  and  almost  certain  to  become  the  source. of  much 
friction. 

It  is  doubtless  possible  to  exaggerate  the  extent  of  the 
increased  authority  of  the  employer  under  the  factory  sys- 
tem; the  small  master  of  the  earlier  periods 

New  powers  7  .  .  . 

undoubtedly  exercised  some  supervision  over 
his  journeymen  and  apprentices,  but  hi  theory  his  authority 
was  that  of  a  parent  or  fellow-workman,  and  it  seems  likely 
that  hi  actual  practice  supervision  amounted  to  nothing 
that  would  imply  a  different  relation  between  master  and 
journeyman.  The  capitalist  employer  of  the  putting-out 
system  certainly  exercised  no  powers  of  supervision.  It  was 
therefore  an  essentially  new  thing  for  the  capitalist  to  be  a 
disciplinarian. 

The  irksomeness  of  discipline  to  the  workmen  would  seem 
to  explain  the  slow  development  of  the  factory  system.  Ex- 
Hostmtyof  perimentation  with  the  factory  system  begins 
the  men  ^  England  as  early  as  the  sixteenth  century 

and  in  France  hi  the  seventeenth  century,  if  the  presence  of 
power  machinery  is  not  made  the  essential  test  of  the  fac- 
tory. The  relative  failure  of  these  early  attempts  is  cu- 
riously puzzling.  In  England  actual  legislation  in  the  interest 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    349 

of  the  older  system  must  have  played  some  part  in  prevent- 
ing a  significant  development  of  factories,  but  the  usual 
futility  of  legislation  to  check  a  powerful  social  tendency 
makes  one  hesitate  to  account  for  the  late  development  of 
factories  solely,  or  even  primarily,  by  reason  of  antagonistic 
legislation.  Toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
the  restrictive  legislation  was  still  in  force,  but  there  were 
developments  toward  the  factory  even  in  those  trades  and 
areas  that  were  included  within  the  restrictive  laws.  Fur- 
thermore, there  was  little  legislative  restriction  in  France, 
and  yet  the  sporadic  experiments  with  the  factory  system 
led  to  no  large  change  in  industrial  organization.  Facto- 
ries became  permanently  established  only  when  there  were 
special  features  which  overcame  the  social  and  economic 
drawbacks. 

Although  we  cannot  be  certain,  there  is  reason  to  believe 
that  the  'factory  system  did  not  afford  a  significant  margin 
of  profit  as  compared  with  the  putting-out  system  until 
machinery  became  relatively  elaborate.  The  factory  thus 
held  out  little  hope  of  special  profits  to  the  capitalist  in  the 
early  period,  and,  as  it  was  bitterly  opposed  by  the  men, 
there  was  no  general  tendency  to  substitute  the  factory  for 
the  organization  of  cottage  industry  under  the  putting-out 
system.  Unfortunately,  we  cannot  determine  the  relative 
importance  of  these  two  factors  in  the  post-  c 

vi       Slow  grow*11 

ponement  of  the  factory  development;  but  the 
late  evidence  makes  it  clear  that  factories  developed  slowly 
even  after  they  had  become  profitable  to  the  capitalist. 
This  was  notably  the  case  with  weaving  factories;  the  hand- 
loom  weavers  could  not  be  induced  to  forsake  the  freedom 
of  the  old  system  under  which  they  had  enjoyed  more  in- 
dependence even  than  farm  laborers. 

Speaking  of  the  conditions  hi  Coventry,  the  special  com- 
missioner writes : 

With  all  its  usual  distress  and  degradation,  the  trade  of  single 
hand  weaving  (requiring  a  minimum  of  strength  and  skill)  offers 
half  the  liberty  of  savage  life,  for  which  the  uninstructed  man  is 
almost  tempted  to  sacrifice  half  the  enjoyments  of  the  civilized. 


350  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Thus,  there  is  a  well  known  feeling  among  the  farm  laborers,  the 
brick-layers,  and  other  ordinary  artizans  in  this  district,  that  it  is 
very  hard  on  them  to  be  turned  out  at  early  hours  every  day  in- 
stead of  being  able  to  take  what  hours  they  please,  like  the  ribbon 
weaver,  and  like  him,  take  saint  Monday,1  and  saint  Tuesday  too 
if  they  choose.  Precisely  the  counterpart  of  these  feelings  is  also 
found  in  the  other  sex.  Notwithstanding  the  wretched  state  in 
which,  until  recently,  the  trade  had  long  been,  it  was  impossible 
for  respectable  families  to  procure  domestic  servants.  There  is 
the  greatest  difficulty  in  prevailing  upon  parents  to  let  their  chil- 
dren come  to  service.  The  young  women  look  down  with  scorn 
upon  it,  and  prefer  the  liberty  of  the  Monday  and  Saturday,  the 
exemption  from  confinement,  and  the  little  finery,  with  the  liberty 
to  wear  it,  which  the  loom  furnishes  them. 

From  all  sections  of  England  there  came  similar  testimony. 
The  great  attraction  of  hand-loom  weaving  was  the  degree 
Significance  of  freedom  enjoyed,  the  weavers  refusing  to 
of  machinery  ieave  their  cottages  for  the  factory  even  when 
the  factory  offered  higher  wages.  It  would  seem  that  the 
discipline  of  the  factory  was  not  merely  a  distinguishing 
feature,  but  an  obstacle  to  the  introduction  of  the  system. 
Machinery  became  important  in  the  development  of  the 
system  because  its  introduction  ultimately  forced  the  work- 
man to  accept  the  discipline  of  the  factory.  As  long  as 
there  was  some  measure  of  freedom  of  choice  between  cot- 
tage and  factory  the  workman  preferred  the  cottage.  The 
general  development  of  the  factory  thus  required  the  ex- 
istence of  commanding  economic  advantages,  advantages 
so  great  as  to  destroy  any  real  freedom  of  choice  on  the  part 
of  the  worker.  The  development  of  the  factory  is  thus 
closely  associated  with  the  introduction  of  machinery,  but 
it  would  inevitably  distort  one's  conception  of  the  rise  of 
the  system  if  the  use  of  machinery  were  made  the  character- 
istic test  of  the  existence  of  a  factory.  Machinery  made  the 
factory  a  successful  and  general  form  of  organization,  but 
there  can  be  a  factory  "without  machinery." 

The  factory  "without  machinery"  was  not  as  conspicuous 

1  Monday  was  usually  devoted  to  getting  new  work  from  the  capitalist 
employer,  so  that  no  craft-work  was  done. 


in  the  earlier  phases  of  the  movement  as  it  became  later;  the 
logical  order  of  development  does  not  coincide  Factories  with- 
with  the  chronological  growth  of  the  new  sys-  ou*mach""*y 
tern.  Before  power-loom  weaving  became  significantly  es- 
tablished, many  manufacturers  collected  hand-loom  weavers 
in  factories,  so  that  the  transition  hi  this  branch  of  the 
textile  trades  took  place  just  before  the  introduction  of  the 
new  machinery.  The  development  of  what  is  known  in 
the  reports  as  the  "shop  loom"  was  accompanied  by  an 
increase  hi  the  division  of  labor  which  separated  the  oper- 
ations requiring  skill  from  the  work  that  demanded  little 
special  training.  The  work  of  the  old  craft-weaver  included 
three  distinct  operations;  winding  or  quilling,  the  initial 
preparation  of  the  warp;  the  putting  of  the  warp  on  the 
loom  beam;  the  actual  weaving,  or  passing  of  the  shuttle 
through  the  warp.  The  two  preparatory  processes  required 
considerable  skill,  the  work  with  the  shuttle  demanded  little 
more  than  reasonable  ingenuity. 

There  is  abundant  testimony  in  the  reports  of  the  Hand- 
Loom  Weavers'  Commission  to  show  that  the  weavers  most 
frequently  referred  to  were  practically  un-  unskilled  labor- 
skilled  laborers.  One  manufacturer  declared  ers  as  weavers 
that  an  apt  person  who  had  never  seen  a  loom  would  be 
able  to  figure  out  the  nature  of  the  operation  in  the  course 
of  an  hour  without  any  help,  and,  with  a  week  of  practice, 
might  become  a  perfect  journeyman  worker.  These  lower- 
grade  workmen  were  given  prepared  warps,  and,  although 
there  is  no  documentary  proof,  one  would  suppose  that  this 
development  led  soon  to  the  gathering  together  of  workers 
in  the  shops  or  factories  of  the  capitalist  employer.  There 
were  obvious  advantages :  the  master  would  know  the  nature 
of  the  work  in  process,  he  would  be  better  able  to  check 
the  output  of  the  individual  weaver,  and  in  most  cases  the 
weaver  would  have  better  equipment  than  if  left  to  his  own 
resources. 

In  Gloucestershire,  the  shop  looms  were  introduced  in  the 
course  of  a  strike.  The  master  weavers,  presuming  that  the 
manufacturers  were  wholly  dependent  upon  them,  went  out 


352  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

in  a  body;  the  manufacturers  then  hired  the  journeymen 
Number  of  formerly  employed  by  the  master  weavers  and 
shop  looms  set  them  to  work  on  looms  set  up  on  the  prem- 
ises. The  master  weavers  were  left  almost  entirely  without 
work.  In  1840  there  were  824  looms  actively  employed 
and  230  idle  looms  in  the  43  weaving  factories  of  the  country. 
The  total  number  of  hand-looms  is  not  given,  but  the  major 
portion  of  the  hand-looms  must  have  been  in  the  factories. 
In  the  Coventry  ribbon  district  there  were  545  hand-looms 
in  factories,  1264  hand-looms  employed  by  capitalists  out- 
side the  factories,  and  121  looms  in  the  hands  of  independ- 
ent masters.  At  Norwich,  656  hand-looms  were  in  factories 
out  of  a  total  of  3398  for  the  district  as  a  whole.  The 
same  system  was  in  use  in  the  woolen  district  in  the  west 
of  England,  though  no  figures  are  available.  The  power- 
looms  were  beginning  to  appear  in  these  districts,  but  in 
1840  the  power-loom  was  not  beyond  the  experimental 
stage  in  the  woolen  industries. 

II.  LEGAL  OBSTACLES  TO  THE  ESTABLISHMENT  OF  THE 
FACTORY  SYSTEM 

The  legislation  of  the  Elizabethan  period  was  designed  to 
prevent  the  growth  of  factories;  several  features  of  the  not- 
able statutes  would  technically  interfere  with  the  establish- 
ment of  factories;  each  craft  was  to  be  the  exclusive  occupa- 
tion of  persons  trained  in  the  craft;  persons  engaged  in  fin- 
ishing operations  were  forbidden  to  have  looms,  and  vice 
versa;  further  extension  of  the  industry  in  the  country  dis- 
tricts was  forbidden;  the  number  of  appren- 

Appr  entice  ship         .  '  .    r 

tices  was  limited.  Of  all  these  restrictions  the 
limitation  of  the  number  of  apprentices  was  perhaps  most 
important  in  the  late  seventeenth  century.  The  tendencies 
toward  the  factory  system  manifested  themselves  chiefly  in 
the  increase  in  the  number  of  unskilled  workers  who  would 
be  called  apprentices,  though  their  relation  to  the  master 
was  essentially  different  from  that  of  the  apprentice  of  the 
earlier  period. 
The  national  system  of  apprenticeship  that  was  estab- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    353 

iished  by  the  Statute  of  1562  began  to  lose  its  force  in  the 
following  century.  The  disorders  of  the  civil  Regulations 
wars  were  a  great  blow  to  the  old  organization  relaxed 
of  industry  and  trade.  The  number  of  artisans  was  greatly 
reduced  and  it  was  necessary  to  relax  many  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  statutes.  After  the  Restoration  an  attempt 
was  made  to  revive  all  the  features  of  the  system  of  strictly 
regulated  industry,  but  it  was  too  late.  The  trades  were  too 
largely  dependent  upon  the  workmen  who  had  never  served 
a  real  apprenticeship;  legal  fictions  were  introduced.  For  a 
period  the  illegal  workmen  were  fined,  sometimes  after  in- 
dictment, sometimes  periodically  assessed  small  sums  to  buy 
off  indictment.  Toward  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury the  status  of  illegal  workmen  was  further  improved. 
A  man  was  to  be  accounted  master  of  his  craft  if  he  had 
exercised  it  for  seven  years,  so  that  an  illegal  workman  who 
escaped  indictment  for  seven  years  became  a  fully  estab- 
lished craftsman.  The  gilds  and  companies  still  maintained 
their  rules,  but  the  enforcement  of  the  rules  was  becoming 
increasingly  difficult.  The  compulsive  elements  in  the  sys- 
tem were  largely  gone  by  the  beginning  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  old  legislation  thus  ceased  to  be  an  effective 
obstacle  to  the  concentration  of  workmen  just  at  the  time 
that  it  was  coming  to  be  profitable.  Young  persons  and 
unskilled  hands  could  be  collected  by  employers  despite  the 
opposition  of  the  adult  workers  who  still  adhered  to  the 
older  rules. 

The  history  of  the  knit-stocking  industry  affords  the  best 
illustration  of  this  type  of  development.  The  introduction 
of  the  stocking-frame  made  it  possible  to  utilize  Knit-stocking 
a  lower  grade  of  labor,  and  this  new  labor  force  industry 
was  brought  into  the  industry  under  the  guise  of  apprentices. 
Capitalist  employers  utilized  such  hands  in  preference  to  the 
journeymen  and  small  masters  who  had  been  trained  to  the 
craft.  The  journeymen  demanded  that  the  limitations  of 
numbers  be  enforced.  The  courts  recognized  the  justice  of 
then*  request;  the  Statute  of  Apprentices  was  applicable  to 
the  craft,  but  the  masters  (i.e.,  the  capitalist  employers)  did 


354  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

nothing  to  enforce  the  law.  Frame-breaking  began  in  1710, 
and,  despite  heavy  penalties,  continued  sporadically  through- 
out the  century.  In  all  probability  certain  rudimentary 
forms  of  the  factory  became  established  hi  the  industry  at 
an  early  date,  though  they  did  not  secure  exclusive  control 
of  the  industry  as  a  whole. 

A  more  determined  attempt  to  secure  the  enforcement  of 
the  old  rules  was  made  by  the  woolen  weavers  of  the  Leeds 
Trouble  district  toward  the  close  of  the  century.  The 

at  Leeds  factory  system  began  to  appear  in  this  district 

about  1796;  the  capitalists  employed  women,  children,  and 
some  journeymen  who  had  served  no  apprenticeship.  The 
cloth  made  in  this  region  was  sold  at  the  Leeds  Cloth  Hall, 
and  until  1796  no  cloth  was  admitted  that  was  not  made  by 
a  master  weaver  who  had  served  seven  years'  apprentice- 
ship. In  that  year  the  trustees  of  the  Hall  voted  to  admit 
cloth  made  by  any  one  who  had  worked  five  years  at  the 
trade;  shortly  after,  any  one  was  allowed  to  sell  cloth  at  the 
Hall.  The  craft-weavers  were  thus  forced  to  compete  with 
the  new  system  of  manufacture.  They  formed  an  associa- 
tion for  the  protection  of  their  interests  which  was  called 
the  Institution.  This  organization  was  maintained  despite 
the  Combination  Laws. 

The  weavers  were  not  quick  to  understand  the  merits  of 
their  case.  The  capitalists  were  guilty  of  illegal  practices, 
Prosecution,  but  no  su^s  were  brought  until  1802-03.  The 
inquiry,  and  initiative  was  then  taken  by  men  in  the  west  of 
England.  The  master  manufacturers  were  sued 
for  infringement  of  the  Statute  of  Apprentices.  They  re- 
plied by  having  a  bill  introduced  into  Parliament  providing 
for  the  suspension  of  all  restrictive  legislation  pending  in- 
quiry. The  small  masters  of  the  Leeds  district  joined  in  the 
opposition  to  this  bill,  but  the  bill  was  passed.  The  organ- 
ization of  the  journeymen  was  improved  and  funds  were 
collected  to  present  the  case  to  Parliament.  The  master 
manufacturers  withdrew  and  formed  a  separate  organization. 
The  continuance  of  the  annual  acts  suspending  the  restric- 
tive legislation  created  much  antagonism  among  the  journey- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    355 

men  and  in  1805  there  was  some  violence.  In  the  following 
year  the  Select  Committee  on  the  Woolen  Trade  reported  in 
favor  of  a  repeal  of  the  regulative  legislation,  and  hi  1813 
and  1814  the  old  legislation  was  repealed. 

The  opposition  of  the  journeymen  had  thus  accomplished 
nothing  more  than  the  clearing  of  the  statute  book  of  the 
obsolete  laws.  The  factories  that  had  already  begun  to 
appear  could  now  develop  without  fear  of  legal  interference 
of  any  kind.  The  repeal  of  these  old  laws  was  defended  by 
the  manufacturers  on  the  grounds  of  a  laissez-faire  policy, 
but  one  should  avoid  assuming  that  Parliament  thereby 
adopted  the  policy.  The  laws  were  obsolete  and  their 
repeal  was  desirable  on  such  grounds.  Parliament,  how- 
ever, had  already  passed  the  first  act  to  regulate  conditions 
in  factories  and  was  soon  to  proceed  further  with  such  legis- 
lation; it  would  thus  be  unfortunate  to  regard  the  ex-parte 
defense  of  a  measure  by  the  manufacturers  as  an  indication 
of  a  policy  maturely  and  deliberately  adopted  by  Parliament. 

III.  THE  RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  THE  FACTORY  SYSTEM 

The  history  of  experimentation  with  the  factory  system 
in  the  eighteenth  century  is  still  obscure;  we  have  many 
scraps  of  information,  but  no  grounds  for  believing  that  our 
information  is  at  all  comprehensive.  The  disposition  to  as- 
sociate factories  with  establishments  using  power  machin- 
ery tends  to  distract  attention  from  instances  of  factories 
which  were  not  based  on  any  tools  or  mechan- 
ism  other  than  the  old  hand-machines.  Cooke- 
Taylor  is  disposed  to  regard  the  silk  throwing  mill  of  John 
Lombe  (1719)  as  the  "first"  factory  in  modern  England. 
The  mill  was  a  new  departure  and  it  is  likely  that  it  does 
mark  the  beginning  of  factories  in  the  silk  industry.  After 
that  date  some  silk  throwing  was  probably  done  in  such 
mills.  A  mill  established  in  1753  was  still  running  in  1816, 
and  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  there  were 
in  all  eight  or  ten  silk  mills.  It  is  likely  that  enough  finishers 
were  collected  in  establishments  of  the  drapers  and  clothiers 
to  constitute  "  factories."  Without  careful  research  it  is  not 


356  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

safe  to  make  many  categorical  statements  about  the  earliest 
factories.  There  was  a  considerable  establishment  hi  York- 
shire for  making  alum  hi  the  early  seventeenth  century, 
and  various  paper  mills  were  set  up  in  the  latter  half  of  that 
century.  Potteries  are  not  sufficiently  described  to  admit 
of  certain  classification. 

The  movement  that  ultimately  transformed  the  organi- 
zation of  the  textile  industries  did  not  begin  until  after  1770, 
Beginnings  in  when  the  development  of  carding  and  spinning 
the  other  tex-  machinery  gave  an  impulse  to  the  systematic 
establishment  of  factories.  These  factories  ap- 
peared first  in  the  cotton  industry,  but  shortly  after  in  the 
woolen  and  worsted  industries.  Factories  based  on  power 
machinery  were  largely  confined  to  these  preparatory  proc- 
esses and  to  the  printing  of  calicoes.  The  weaving  of  tex- 
tiles and  the  finishing  of  the  woolens  were  not  affected  for 
a  considerable  interval,  not  significantly  until  after  1830. 
It  is  thus  possible  to  distinguish  two  periods  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  factory  system  in  the  textile  trades:  in  the  earlier 
period  the  factories  were  supplementary  to  the  older  putting- 
out  system  that  maintained  itself  in  weaving;  in  the  later 
period,  the  factory  gradually  became  the  predominant  mode 
of  organization  in  the  textile  trades  and  ultimately  the  pre- 
dominant form  of  industrial  organization.  The  length  of  the 
period  of  transition  is  easily  underestimated. 

Arkwright's  first  spinning  mill  was  established  in  1771;  hi 
1780  there  were  about  twenty  water-frame  spinning  mills  in 
England.  The  failure  of  Arkwright  in  the  defense  of  the 
patents  led  to  a  considerable  increase  in  the  use  of  the  frames, 
and  it  is  said  that  there  were  one  hundred  and  fifty  water- 
frame  mills  in  operation  in  1790.  The  development  of  fac- 
tories in  the  woolen  industries  seems  to  have  been  largely 
subsequent  to  1790,  though  it  is  difficult  to  be  certain  of 
the  probable  date  of  the  establishment  of  weaving  factories 
in  the  west  of  England  based  on  hand-looms.  There  were 
several  types  of  factory;  some  devoted  to  preparatory  proc- 
esses, carding,  slubbing,  and  spinning;  some  devoted  to  weav- 
ing on  hand-looms;  some  devoted  to  finishing  the  cloth  on 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    357 

gig  mills  and  shearing  frames.    Cooperative  or  joint-stock 
mills  for  finishing  became  very  common  in  the  West  Riding 
of  Yorkshire,  enabling  the  small  master  weavers  to  compete 
successfully  with  the  larger  manufacturers.    But  the  number 
of  factories  in  the  woolen  industries  does  not  Early 
seem  to  have  been  very  great  at  the  time  of  the  ^i1""68 
Woolen  Report  of  1806;  there  was  much  uncertainty  as  to 
the  proper  definition  of  a  factory,  but  even  with  due  allow- 
ance for  such  elements  of  error  there  is  no  ground  for  sup- 
posing that  the  new  system  was  more  than  barely  launched. 

The  earliest  statistics  with  reference  to  factories  appear 
in  the  Report  on  Children  hi  Factories  made  in  1816.  These 
figures  are  incomplete  in  many  respects;  they  do  not  pretend 
to  include  all  the  factories,  and  the  classifications  according 
to  age  and  sex  are  not  uniform;  yet,  with  all  these  short- 
comings, these  figures  afford  notable  evidence  of  the  gen- 
eral composition  of  the  factory  population.  About  half  the 
mills  in  England  were  reported  and  apparently  all  the  Scotch 
mills  except  the  cotton  mills  at  New  Lanark.  The  state- 
ments are  sworn  statements  and  thus  represent  the  situation 
in  the  mills  to  the  best  knowledge  and  belief  of  the  owners 
and  managers.  In  some  cases  only  approximations  are 
given,  but  as  a  rule  the  figures  submitted  were  prepared  for 
the  committee  with  some  care.  There  is  evident  purpose  on 
the  part  of  the  committee  to  secure  statements  from  all 
sections  hi  which  factories  existed,  and  under  such  circum- 
stances one  may  feel  confident  that  the  figures  are  fairly 
representative. 

The  striking  feature  of  these  statistics  is  the  large  number 
of  women  and  children  employed.  Adult  male  workers  were 
predominantly  employed  outside  the  factory, 


and  their  absence  appears  in  the  low  propor-  men,  women, 
tions  of  males  in  factories  compared  with  the 
industry  as  a  whole.     The  best  wholly  contemporary  com- 
parison that  is  possiblelis  in  the  woolen  industry  of  the  west 
of  England.     We  have  a  careful  statement  of  the  numbers 
of  hours'  labor  of  men,  women,  and  children  required  to  pro- 
duce a  piece  of  broad  cloth,  at  various  dates  between  1781 


358 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


and  1828;  we  have  also  a  statement  of  the  proportions  of 
woolen  persons  employed  in  twenty-eight  woolen  mills 

industry  m  Wiltshire.    Between  1805  and  1820  the  labor 

of  a  man  was  supposed  to  constitute  37.2  per  cent  of  the 
labor  in  the  industry,  hour  for  hour.  In  the  mills  reported 
in  1816  adult  males  (over  18)  constituted  27  per  cent  of  the 
labor  force.  The  proportion  of  males  in  the  mills  was  thus 
considerably  below  the  proportion  for  the  industry  as  a  whole. 

RELATIVE  LENGTH  OF  TIME  SPENT  BY  MEN,  WOMEN,  AND  CHILDREN  IN 
THE  MANUFACTURE  OF  FINE  BROAD  CLOTH  * 


Period 

Men 

Women 

Children 

Total 

1781-1796.. 

31.79 

25.28 

42.93 

100 

1796-1805  

40.50 

20.10 

39  40 

100 

1805-1820  

37.20 

21.20 

41.5 

100 

1828     

39.9 

18.6 

41.5 

100 

*  Report  on  Hand-Loom  Weavers  (1840).    Part  II,  439-41. 

With  reference  to  the  other  industries  it  is  not  possible  to 
draw  an  accurate  comparison,  as  we  have  no  statistics  for 
the  industry  as  a  whole  at  this  early  date.  The  later  figures 
from  the  reports  of  the  factory  inspectors,  however,  probably 
afford  a  basis  for  rough  comparison.  The  figures  for  the 
woolen  industry  covering  the  period  between  1796  and  1828 
show  no  profound  change  in  the  proportions  between  men, 
women,  and  children;  it  would  seem  likely  that  similar  con- 
stancy of  proportions  would  appear  in  the  other  industries. 

The  first  introduction  of  machinery  resulted  in  a  note- 
worthy change  in  the  proportions  of  men,  women,  and  chil- 
dren, but  after  this  the  proportions  fluctuated  within  rela- 
tively narrow  limits.  In  the  period  between  1835  and  1895 
the  proportion  of  adult  males  in  cotton  factories  was  never 
lower  than  24.1  per  cent  nor  higher  than  28.8  per  cent;  it 
would  therefore  seem  likely  that  these  proportions  represent 
the  normal  conditions  of  the  industry.  The  cotton  industry 
The  cotton  became  a  factory  industry  much  earlier  than 
industry  ^he  Other  textiles,  and  there  is  nothing  improb- 

able in  the  assumption  that  the  proportions  in  factories 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    359 

were  normal  as  early  as  1835.  In  1816  the  adult  males  in 
the  Scotch  mills  constituted  only  17.7  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  of  employees,  and  in  a  group  of  six  mills  in  Notting- 
hamshire 18.54  per  cent.  The  other  English  figures  do  not 
distinguish  between  males  and  females  over  eighteen. 

The  relatively  low  proportion  of  adult  males  is  probably 
due  to  two  factors;  the  late  extension  of  the  factory  system 
to  the  branches  of  the  industry  that  were  the  ^  ihe  men 
chief  field  for  the  employment  of  males,  and  the  remained  out- 
indisposition  of  the  males  to  enter  the  factories. 
These  two  factors  exerted  considerable  influence  on  each 
other.     The  late  development  of  factories  in  weaving  was 
admittedly  due  in  no  small  measure  to  the  restlessness  of  the 
hand-loom  weavers.    It  was  not  possible  to  bring  them  into 
the  factories  until  the  improvement  of  the  power-loom  drove 
the  hand-loom  from  the  field,  and  in  some  branches  of  the 
textile  industries  the  hand-loom  held  its  own  until  1850  and 
even  later. 

The  worsted  industry  was  one  of  the  last  to  be  brought 
under  the  factory  system,  and  the  gradual  entry  of  the  men 
into  the  factories  is  clearly  indicated  by  the  changing  pro- 
portions of  adult  males.  In  1835,  only  10.7  per  cent  of  the 
factory  hands  were  males  over  eighteen;  in  1856,  20.6  per 
cent  were  adult  males,  and  after  1885  the  proportion  rose 
to  25  per  cent.  These  changes  can  hardly  represent  changes 
hi  the  general  proportions  hi  the  industry  at  large,  and  as 
we  know  that  the  factory  system  was  only  gradually  being 
extended  to  this  particular  industry  it  is  likely  that  these 
changes  are  a  rough  measure  of  the  transition  to  the  factory. 
The  outstanding  feature  of  the  earlier  phases- social 
of  the  factory  movement  was  thus  the  relatively  Problems 
large  measure  of  dependence  upon  women  and  children  as  a 
labor  force.  When  the  factory  was  concerned  primarily 
with  the  preparatory  processes,  the  number  of  adult  males 
necessary  was  small.  In  the  earliest  period  the  number  of 
very  young  children  was  considerable.  Appreciable  num- 
bers of  children  under  ten  were  employed.  The  social  prob- 
lems created  by  the  factory  were  thus  rendered  peculiarly 


360  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

acute,  because  the  persons  first  gathered  into  the  factories 
were  those  least  able  to  make  any  effective  protest. 

The  initial  problem  of  the  factory  owner  was  to  recruit  a 
labor  force,  and,  as  children  were  desirable,  it  was  possible 
for  him  to  utilize  the  laws  providing  for  the  apprenticeship 
Pauper  of  pauper  children.  These  laws  went  back  to 

apprentices  t^e  ^ays  of  Henry  VIII.  It  was  provided  that 
vagrant  children  should  be  arrested  and  bound  as  appren- 
tices;  sons  of  vagrants  might  be  apprenticed  until  the  age  of 
twenty-four,  daughters  to  the  age  of  twenty.  These  pro- 
visions were  continued  without  much  change  until  the  Re- 
form of  the  Poor-Law  in  1834.  These  indentures  were  sim- 
ilar to  the  indentures  for  ordinary  industrial  apprentices,  but 
the  overseer  of  the  poor  stood  in  place  of  the  parent,  and  the 
payment  of  a  small  fee  might  easily  acquire  a  somewhat 
different  meaning  in  the  case  of  pauper  children. 

The  theory  of  pauper  apprenticeship  was  sound,  but  in 
practice  the  device  was  hardly  more  than  a  method  of  un- 
Theoryand  loading  the  children  upon  some  person  willing 
practice  £o  take  a  chance  of  getting  enough  work  out 

of  them  to  pay  for  their  keep.  All  pretence  of  obligation 
to  teach  them  a  trade  was  abandoned  at  an  early  date. 
When  the  law  of  settlement  of  1691  raised  obstacles  to  the 
free  movement  of  the  indigent  classes  a  regular  traffic  in 
apprentices  sprang  up  which  continued  without  much  dimi- 
nution until  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Some 
attempts  were  made  to  regulate  this  traffic  in  1767  and  again 
in  1778,  but  these  acts  were  mere  palliatives.  When  the 
cotton  factories  were  established  in  Lancashire,  Yorkshire, 
and  Scotland  they  were  at  first  filled  with  pauper  appren- 
tices from  London  and  other  large  towns.  At  London  a 
register  was  kept  and  part  of  the  fee  was  withheld  to  be  paid 
only  at  the  conclusion  of  the  period  of  apprenticeship,  but 
this  was  no  guarantee  of  good  treatment.  In  Owen's  mills 
at  New  Lanark,  some  care  was  taken  of  the  welfare  of  the 
apprentices,  but  the  extent  of  these  humanitarian  efforts 
does  not  seem  very  considerable  in  comparison  with  modern 
standards.  Unfortunately  we  have  no  means  of  determin- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    361 

ing  the  precise  extent  of  such  apprenticeship,  nor  the  date 
of  its  substantial  disappearance  in  the  factories.  It  was 
declining  hi  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century,  and 
was  probably  of  subordinate  importance  in  the  recruiting  of 
the  labor  force  after  1816.  The  conditions  of  child  labor  in 
general  were  sufficiently  bad  to  make  it  needless  to  distinguish 
between  the  "free"  children  and  the  paupers. 

The  social  problems  of  the  factory  had  reached  forbidding 
proportions  long  before  the  factory  became  the  character- 
istic form  of  industrial  organization,  and,  be-  The  reports 
cause  of  the  attention  given  these  matters  in  ofinsPectors 
Parliament  and  in  public  agitation,  there  is  real  danger  of 
misjudging  the  progress  of  the  movement  toward  the  factory 
system.  This  danger  is  increased  by  the  character  of  sta- 
tistical material  available  for  the  study  of  the  industrial 
population.  The  factory  inspectors'  reports  begin  in  1835, 
and  after  1838  these  reports  become  trustworthy  and  com- 
prehensive for  the  regulated  establishments.  They  con- 
stitute a  continuous  series  of  figures  to  the  present  time, 
organized  with  reference  to  classifications  that  are  essentially 
in  accord  with  modern  problems.  It  is  therefore  tempting 
to  confine  studies  of  the  industrial  population  to  these 
figures,  despite  the  fact  that  they  do  not  include  the  entire 
population  and  despite  changes  hi  factory  legislation  which 
gave  the  inquiries  a  wider  and  wider  scope.  Occupational 
statistics  are  published  by  the  Census  Office  and  in  a  measure 
these  figures  afford  some  indication  of  the  relative  numbers 
of  persons  employed  outside  the  factories,  but  the  classifica- 
tions do  not  always  coincide  exactly  with  those  of  the  factory 
return.  The  census  does  not  distinguish  between  persons 
employed  in  factories  and  persons  employed  at  home,  except 
in  1901,  so  that  the  only  comparison  that  can  be  made  is 
between  the  totals  reported  in  the  factory  return  and  the 
totals  reported  by  the  census  enumerators. 

In  1841  the  census  reported  377,000  persons  hi  the  cotton 
industry  as  compared  with  259,000  persons  reported  by  the 
factory  inspectors  in  1838.  About  70  per  cent  (68.7  per  cent) 
of  the  cotton  operatives  were  thus  employed  in  factories 


362  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

at  that  time.  The  woolen  and  linen  operatives  were  about 
evenly  divided  between  the  factories  and  various  forms  of 
Growth  of  the  employment  in  their  homes.  Only  40  per  cent 
factory  system  of  ^e  sQjj.  workers  were  employed  in  factories 

at  that  time.  No  fundamental  change  had  taken  place  in 
1851  ;  there  were  more  factories  in  the  cotton  industry  than 
in  other  textile  employments,  and  in  the  other  trades  nearly 
one  half  the  workers  were  in  non-regulated  establishments. 
The  factory  legislation  defined  the  factory  in  such  a  way 
that  we  may  well  suppose  that  certain  establishments  were 
not  regulated,  though  they  were  factories  in  all  essential 
features,  and  yet  it  would  seem  likely  that  the  factory  was 
merely  one  of  several  forms  of  industrial  organization.  It 
was  attracting  the  most  earnest  attention  of  the  people,  but 
it  was  not  at  that  time  a  predominant  form. 

By  1871  the  factory  had  become  the  characteristic  form  of 
organization  in  both  the  leading  textile  trades.  Eighty- 
Predominant  in  eight  Per  cent  of  the  persons  enumerated  by  the 


textiles  and  census  in  the  cotton  industry  were  employed  in 
1  7I  factories;  seventy-eight  per  cent  of  the  persons 
employed  on  woolen  goods  were  in  factories,  and  the  factory 
inspectors  actually  reported  more  persons  in  the  worsted 
industry  than  were  enumerated  by  the  census.  The  silk  and 
linen  industries  were  declining  in  importance  both  relatively 
and  absolutely,  so  that  the  somewhat  smaller  proportion  of 
factory  workers  in  those  trades  can  hardly  be  drawn  hi  con- 
sequence. The  factory  had  also  become  the  predominant 
form  of  organization  in  the  metal  trades;  seventy-five  per 
cent  of  the  persons  enumerated  by  the  census  were  in  fac- 
tories. In  the  clothing  trades  and  in  the  leather  trades  the 
factory  system  had  made  little  progress.  The  tailors  and 
milliners  were  still  outside  the  factories;  likewise  the  boot- 
and  shoemakers,  the  saddlers,  the  goldsmiths,  the  watch- 
makers, and  the  cutlers. 

The  extension  of  the  factory  system  to  the  lesser  industries 
Extension  to  took  place  in  the  following  generation.  The 
other  industries  carefui  occupational  enumeration  of  1901  shows 
the  final  triumph  of  the  factory.  The  enumeration  dis- 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    363 

tinguishes  persons  working  in  factories  and  persons  working 
at  home.  This  is  in  many  respects  a  more  satisfactory  dis- 
tinction than  the  numerical  distinctions  common  in  France 
and  Germany.  Persons  working  at  home,  whether  for  an 
employer  or  on  their  own  account,  are  certainly  not  factory 
workers,  and  at  the  present  time  it  is  probable  that  any 
establishments  outside  the  home  should  be  included  in  the 
classification  of  factories.  The  clothing  trades  have  been 
least  dominated  by  the  factory,  but  even  in  that  group, 
seventy  per  cent  of  all  the  workers  are  employed  in  factories. 
In  the  other  groups  only  a  small  residuum  is  still  employed 
at  home;  in  textiles,  1.9  per  cent;  in  metals,  2.82  per  cent;  in 
the  precious  metals,  9.3  per  cent;  wood-working,  7.26  per 
cent;  skins  and  leather,  10.54  per  cent.  In  all  probability 
small  numbers  of  workers  will  always  be  able  to  maintain 
their  independence  in  these  various  trades;  in  some  trades 
more  easily  than  in  others,  but  to  a  certain  extent  in  all 
trades.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  evident  that  this  sur- 
vival of  domestic  employment  is  quantitatively  unimportant. 
The  factory  has  not  made  its  way  quite  as  rapidly  in  Europe 
as  in  England,  but  the  home  worker  is  becoming  the  excep- 
tion in  the  major  European  countries. 

IV.  ARTISANS  AND  MACHINERY 

It  is  customary  to  associate  the  distress  among  the  artisans 
in  the  early  nineteenth  century  with  the  introduction  of 
machinery  and  the  rise  of  the  factory  system. 
The  violence  that  was  not  infrequently  directed 
against  machines  would  seem  to  lend  color  to  this  view,  and 
the  conception  of  the  Industrial  Revolution  as  a  sudden  and 
violent  change  would  make  it  seem  logically  necessary  that 
there  should  be  pains  of  transition.  The  distress  of  the 
early  years  of  the  century  is  undeniable,  but  it  would  seem 
that  the  causes  of  the  distress  were  much  more  complex 
than  the  conventional  views  would  lead  one  to  suppose.  The 
development  of  the  factory  system  and  the  introduction  of 
new  machinery  were  both  very  gradual.  Some  of  the  most 
notable  mechanical  achievements  probably  exerted  no 


364  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

pressure  upon  the  workman;  the  spinning  inventions,  the 
steam  engine,  and  the  steel  inventions  created  opportunities 
for  employment  that  had  not  previously  existed.  The 
energetic  individual,  of  the  humblest  extraction,  thus  found 
openings  that  were  unrivaled  in  dramatic  possibilities.  It  is 
hard  to  believe  that  the  individual  of  significant  resourceful- 
ness did  not  find  abundant  chances  for  betterment. 

The  case  of  the  craft-worker  —  the  skilled  workman 
brought  up  to  a  craft  that  required  years  of  training  —  was 
The  skilled  undoubtedly  different.  But  the  effect  of  the 
craftsman  great  transformation  on  these  workers  was  by 
no  means  a  mere  displacement  of  men  by  machines.  In  the 
textile  trades,  craft-skill  could  easily  be  transferred  from 
one  class  of  goods  to  another.  The  weaver  could  work  on 
cottons,  woolens,  or  silks,  and  there  is  clear  ground  for  sup- 
posing that  the  more  highly  skilled  workmen  did  change 
from  one  type  of  goods  to  another.  Even  at  the  period  of 
greatest  distress  among  the  hand-loom  weavers,  the  skilled 
workers  were  able  to  earn  satisfactory  wages,  and  the  work 
requiring  both  strength  and  skill  was  well  paid. 

The  difficulty  in  analyzing  the  conditions  in  the  textile 
trades  is  largely  created  by  the  introduction  into  the  in- 
The  unskilled  dustry  of  a  large  number  of  unskilled  persons, 
workers  q^g  eariy  years  of  the  century  were  character- 

ized by  periods  of  great  expansion  and  prosperity.  The 
demand  for  labor  was  keen;  the  increased  specialization  in 
the  process  of  production  and  the  relaxation  of  the  old  laws 
of  apprenticeship  made  it  possible  to  utilize  a  grade  of  labor 
that  had  not  formerly  been  used  in  these  trades.  Many 
Irish  came  over  to  England  and  became  weavers.  Persons 
who  had  never  seen  a  loom  came  to  the  textile  districts  and 
established  themselves  as  weavers.  When  the  periods  of 
expansion  came  to  an  end  the  trades  were  overcrowded. 
New  ideas  with  reference  to  the  payment  of  wages  re- 
sulted in  wage  reductions,  as  well  as  in  lack  of  employment. 
The  attractions  of  cottage  industry  prevented  these  hands, 
or  many  of  them,  from  transferring  to  other  employments. 
After  1840  the  development  of  power-loom  weaving  made 


THE  RISE  OF  THE  MODERN  FACTORY  SYSTEM    365 

the  over-supply  of  unskilled  weavers  a  serious  matter,  but 
even  then  the  machines  did  not  supplant  trained  craft- 
workers  in  the  sense  that  might  be  inferred  from  many 
accounts. 

It  must  be  remembered,  furthermore,  that  these  were 
years  of  distress  in  the  agricultural  districts  also,  and  that 
the  condition  of  the  agricultural  laborer  was  other  causes 
equally  desperate.  It  is  unfortunate  that  the  ofdistress 
entire  social  question  has  not  been  studied  as  a  whole.  The 
inquiries  of  the  Poor-Law  Commissioners  suggest  other  ex- 
planations for  the  distress  among  the  working  classes.  Great 
displacements  of  population  took  place  in  this  period.  The 
northerly  counties  of  the  present  manufacturing  district 
grew  rapidly  in  population,  the  older  industrial  districts 
barely  held  their  own  or  actually  lost  ground.  The  agri- 
cultural counties  lost  also.  Much  migration  was  necessary, 
but  the  poor-laws  presented  every  possible  obstacle  to  mi- 
gration of  the  working  classes.  The  law  of  settlement 
tended  to  immobilize  the  population.  There  might  be  work 
enough  to  occupy  the  poor  of  a  parish,  but  they  could  not 
take  the  job  unless  it  could  be  held  without  acquiring  resi- 
dence in  the  other  parish.  The  unfortunate  effect  of  such 
regulations  at  a  time  of  great  social  change  can  hardly  be 
imagined.  The  inquiry  of  1833-34  revealed  the 

,  „          .  ,         ,      ,   ,  ,  The  poor-laws 

fact  that  a  number  of  parishes  had  been  aban- 
doned to  the  poor  by  the  owners  of  property.  The  rates 
had  increased  portentously  and  in  some  instances  the  prop- 
erty-owners simply  abandoned  the  parish.  Such  conditions 
were  not  the  result  of  industrial  or  agrarian  changes;  they 
were  merely  the  result  of  unfortunate  social  legislation,  and 
it  is  extremely  difficult  to  know  the  extent  to  which  the  ills 
of  the  period  can  be  justly  ascribed  to  bad  laws.  It  is 
difficult  to  believe  that  the  distress  of  the  tune  was  in  any 
sense  a  necessary  outcome  of  industrial  change.  Proper 
regulation  of  the  purely  social  problems  of  the  factories  and 
the  factory  towns  would  inevitably  follow  the  emergence  of 
new  problems  by  a  more  or  less  considerable  interval,  but  it 
is  hard  to  find  concrete  evidence  to  support  the  conclusion 


366  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

that  economic  distress,  "pain  of  transition,"  was  a  necessary 
feature  of  the  Industrial  Revolution. 

The  modern  industrial  system,  however,  has  changed  the 
position  of  the  artisan.  In  a  sense  there  is  little  place  for 
the  artisan  of  the  old  type.  Modern  industry  does  not  need 
mere  acquired  manual  dexterity,  but  rather  capacity  to 
accept  responsibilities.  The  well-paid  worker  of  the  present 
Machinery  time  is  paid  for  a  different  kind  of  qualities.  In 
and  the  man  faQ  ^  SyStem  acquired  skill  was  paid  for.  To- 
day, essential  human  qualities  are  paid  for;  powers  and 
capacities  that  can  be  improved  by  training,  but  not  in  any 
real  sense  created  by  training.  Modern  industry  has  its 
great  rewards  for  the  man.  The  introduction  of  machinery 
has  not  made  men  slaves;  it  has  emancipated  them  and 
placed  the  emphasis  upon  the  fundamental  character  of  the 
individual.  It  must  be  confessed  that  modern  conditions 
reveal  an  immense  mass  of  irresponsibility  and  great  de- 
ficiencies in  human  qualities.  The  old  distinctions  between 
the  skilled  and  the  unskilled  might  better  be  abandoned  for 
distinctions  between  the  responsible  and  the  irresponsible. 


CHAPTER  XV 
THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING 


COLLECTIVE  determination  of  wages  must  be  associated 
with  the  attempts  at  administrative  participation  in  the 
regulation  of  wages  by  various  groups  of  magistrates;  by 
the  municipal  officials  in  part,  and  in  part  also  The  statute 
by  the  county  officials,  the  latter  acting  under  of  APPrentices 
the  Statute  of  Apprentices  of  1565.  The  wage  clauses  of 
this  famous  statute  have  been  the  subject  of  a  deal  of  con- 
troversy, and  it  is  not  yet  clear  that  all  of  the  controversial 
points  have  been  settled;  but  the  larger  outlines  of  the  sub- 
ject are  now  fairly  evident,  the  purposes  of  the  statute 
roughly  known,  and  its  success  at  least  partially  understood. 
Memoranda  in  Lord  Burleigh's  papers  indicate  definitely 
that  the  wage  clauses  were  designed  to  afford  a  means  of 
adjusting  the  wages  of  laborers  to  the  rising  scale  of  prices 
which  was  exerting  such  serious  influence  on  the  welfare  of 
the  lower  classes.  The  mechanism  of  the  statute  was  not 
new.  Handbooks  prepared  for  justices  of  the  peace  indicate 
that  some  administrative  intervention  in  wage  contracts  was 
well  established  in  law  and  custom,  but  the  establishment  of 
rates  of  wages  by  justices  of  the  peace  as  conceived  in  the 
Statute  of  Apprentices  involved  some  new  elements  or  at 
least  new  purposes. 

Even  if  wages  had  been  in  the  past  somewhat  regulated 
in  proportion  to  the  prices  of  grain,  the  results  of  adjusting 
wages  to  the  price  of  grain  would  have  been  facrea8eof 
very  different  at  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  cen-  money  wages 
tury.    The  rise  hi  prices  meant  that  the  main-  projec 
tenance  of  the  old  principle  would  bring  about  a  significant 
increase  in  the  money  wages  of  all  classes  of  artisans.    The 
accomplishment  of  the  purpose  of  the  Statute  of  Apprentices 
in  the  period  immediately  following  its  enactment  must 


368  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

remain  at  least  doubtful,  and  it  would  seem  that  there  is  a 
presumption  against  the  view  that  it  was  hi  fact  a  means  of 
bringing  about  a  general  increase  hi  money  wages.  The 
statute  remained,  however,  a  possible  recourse  hi  labor  dis- 
putes and  as  actually  administered  tended  to  provide  for  a 
form  of  compulsory  arbitration.  This  much  at  least  is  true, 
that  even  hi  the  early  period  and  most  particularly  in  the 
eighteenth  century  the  wage  contract  was  not  a  purely  in- 
dividual contract.  The  laborers  were  not  organized  in 
elaborate  associations,  but  the  individual  wage-earner  was 
not  obliged  to  bargain  with  his  employer  as  an  isolated 
individual. 

There  is  little  adequate  evidence  of  what  was  taking  place 
among  wage-earners  hi  industry  hi  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries,  but  a  number  of  instances  are  suggestive. 
Some  instances  of  wage  disputes  hi  London  toward  the  close 
of  the  seventeenth  century  have  been  brought  to  notice  by 
Unwin.  There  are  references  hi  the  records  of  Parliament 
important  to  conditions  among  the  wage-earners  in  the 
episodes  Ci0fa  districts  of  the  west  of  England  in  the 

early  eighteenth  century.  We  have  fairly  adequate  evi- 
dence for  the  silk  industry  of  London  during  the  late  eight- 
eenth century,  and  some  casual  evidence  with  reference 
to  other  industrial  wage-earners.  In  all  these  cases  there 
was  organization  among  the  wage-earners  and  some  organ- 
ized attempt  at  the  determination  of  rates  of  wages.  The 
legal  rights  of  the  wage-earners  were  uncertain  and  the  spirit 
of  much  of  the  negotiation  very  different  from  the  spirit  of 
modern  unionism,  but  hi  the  larger  sense  of  the  word,  one 
must  regard  these  episodes  as  indicative  of  tendencies  to- 
ward collective  action. 

In  the  fall  of  1667  the  journeymen  felt-makers  of  London 
appealed  to  the  aldermen  against  the  wardens  of  the  gild. 
The  London  The  journeymen  had  become  a  substantially 
permanent  class  of  wage-earners  employed  by 
the  masters  of  the  gild.  Under  such  circumstances  there 
was  no  real  provision  for  protection  of  their  rights  and 
interests.  Appeal  to  the  municipal  authorities  was  the  only 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       369 

solution.  The  aldermen  in  this  instance  proposed  to  amend 
the  gild  statutes;  wage-lists  were  to  be  made  each  year  by 
the  wardens  of  the  gild  and  submitted  to  the  aldermen  of 
the  city.  This  arrangement  was  obviously  in  the  interests 
of  the  wardens  and  designed  to  prevent  the  journeymen  from 
forcing  increases  of  wages  by  concerted  action.  There  is 
thus  an  intimation  at  least  of  collective  action  among  the 
journeymen.  In  the  latter  part  of  the  century  much  more 
definite  evidence  of  the  activities  of  the  journeymen  is  avail- 
able. In  1696  the  felt-makers'  gild  drew  up  a  scale  of 
wages  for  the  journeymen  with  the  provision  that  if  the 
journeymen  did  not  accept  the  masters  might  employ 
journeymen  from  out  of  town.  The  journeymen  struck 
and  forced  a  compromise.  The  revised  wage-list  was  pre- 
sented to  the  aldermen  and  agreed  to.  It  will  be  observed 
that  the  municipal  authorities  were  summoned  to  give  added 
sanction  to  an  agreement  that  had  already  been  reached 
between  the  wage-earners  and  their  employers. 

In  the  west  of  England  the  situation  was  different  because 
gild  organization  was  not  important  in  the  industry.  A 
witness  testifying  before  Parliament  said: 

The  weavers  have  many  clubs  in  several  places  in  the  west  of 
England,  particularly  at  Exeter,  where  they  make  by-laws  some 
of  which  he  has  seen,  which  by-laws  are  among  weavers'  clubs 
other  things  to  appoint  places  of  meeting,  fix  their  in  &*  west 
officers,  make  allowances  to  traveling  workmen,  and  ascertain 
their  wages.  Several  weavers  have  brought  home  their  work 
and  durst  not  go  on  to  serve  their  master  for  fear  of  other  weavers 
of  the  club  who  have  deterred  them  therefrom,  and  he  believes 
that  one  of  the  occasions  of  the  late  riots  that  have  happened 
has  been  that  the  masters  have  refused  to  raise  the  workmen's 
wages  to  what  prices  they  please.  He  was  present  at  a  great  mob 
in  the  town  of  Crediton  (Devonshire)  consisting  of  weavers  and 
others  concerned  in  the  weaving  manufacture  who  were  headed  by 
a  captain  and  threatened  their  masters  if  they  refused  to  raise  their 
wages.  They  carried  about  with  them  a  chain  of  serge  cut  off  from 
a  loom  and  declared  that  they  would  do  the  like  to  the  pieces  of 
serge  of  other  masters.  When  the  constables  had  seized  some  of 
the  ring  leaders  and  had  brought  them  before  two  justices  of  the 
peace  the  mob  bursting  into  the  house,  insulted  the  justices,  threw 
stones  at  them,  forced  them  to  fly  and  rescued  the  prisoners. 


370  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Another  witness  said  that  the  weavers  complained  of  pay- 
ing them  hi  truck,  but  he  "  believes  that  this  is  not  the  cause 
of  the  rioting  because  they  usually  begin  in  the  spring  when 
there  is  the  greatest  demand  for  goods  and  the  most  plenty 
of  work.  He  has  known  weavers  who  would  willingly  have 
worked  for  him  at  the  wages  he  gave,  but  the  club  threatened 
if  they  did  so  to  pull  them  out  of  the  house  and  coolstaff 
them,  upon  which  he  was  forced  to  pay  them  the  prices 
demanded  to  save  his  work  from  being  cut."  l 

The  remedy  proposed  was  an  assessment  of  wages  under 
the  Statute  of  Apprentices.  The  list  was  published,  but  was 
never  enforced.  The  masters  objected  on  the  ground  that 
it  was  not  sufficiently  detailed. 

Similar  difficulties  occurred  in  1756  and  an  act  was  passed 
providing  for  the  assessment  of  wages  by  justices  of  the 
The  Act  peace.  A  wage  assessment  for  Gloucestershire 

of  1756  was  made,  but  protests  were  received  from  the 

master  clothiers  and  the  Act  of  1756  was  repealed.  Sidney 
Webb  declares  that  this  statute  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
policy  of  " administrative  nihilism"  based  on  the  notion  of 
absolute  freedom  of  contract.  This,  however,  would  seem 
to  be  an  untenable  interpretation  of  the  statute.  There 
seems  to  be  no  adequate  grounds  for  supposing  that  the 
repeal  of  the  act  implied  anything  more  than  a  return  to 
existing  customs  and  the  existing  customs  suggest  that  there 
was  much  collective  action  between  the  clothiers  and  the 
weavers. 

In  connection  with  the  petition  of  the  clothiers  one  William 
Dallaway  testified  that  he  had  never  heard  of  any  rate  for 
Customs  m  wages  being  made  by  the  justices  of  the  peace 
Gloucester-  before  1727  when  a  rate  was  made  of  which  he 
had  seen  an  attested  copy,  but  the  rate  was 
never  complied  with  to  his  knowledge.  Continuing  his 
testimony  he  declared  that  he  had  been  in  business  for  ten 
years  and  had  never  varied  in  his  prices.  The  rates  were 
settled  according  to  his  belief  by  "some  clothiers  and  some 
weavers."  Others  testified  to  substantially  similar  facts, 
1  Commons  Journals,  xx,  648,  1-2  April,  1726. 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       371 

and  it  would  seem  that  there  must  have  been  some  measure 
of  collective  action  prior  to  1756.  It  would  be  wholly  war- 
rantable to  suppose  that  reference  to  administrative  au- 
thority was  due  to  a  desire  to  make  the  rates  more  bind- 
ing. There  would  seem  to  be  no  grounds  for  assuming  that 
the  absence  of  statutory  enactment  would  disturb  existing 
customs.  In  other  industries  at  least  there  is  clear  evidence 
that  no  policy  of  administrative  nihilism  was  adopted,  and 
hi  short  there  is  adequate  reason  for  believing  that  the 
tendency  toward  collective  bargaining  clearly  apparent  hi 
the  first  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  continued  without 
serious  interruption  throughout  the  latter  half  of  the  century. 
The  unrest  which  had  become  a  serious  problem  in  the 
woolen  industry  seems  to  have  attracted  little  more  public 
attention,  but  in  the  silk  industry  and  most  par-  spitaifieids 
ticularly  among  the  silk  weavers  of  London  at  riots 
Spitaifieids  there  was  serious  trouble  throughout  the  years 
1765-70.  The  difficulties  were  partly  due  to  pressure 
created  by  competition  with  French  silks,  and  rioting,  which 
was  serious  in  May,  1765,  was  finally  brought  to  an  end  by 
the  imposition  of  protective  duties.  The  trade,  however, 
continued  to  be  disturbed  partly  by  reductions  of  wages, 
partly  by  certain  dislocations  in  the  industry.  The  intro- 
duction of  a  new  type  of  ribbon  loom  caused  significant 
trouble.  Throughout  1768  there  was  sporadic  trouble, 
violence  was  done  to  the  property  of  master  weavers,  and 
some  cases  of  violence  to  persons  are  recorded.  We  are 
very  ill-informed  about  the  details  of  these  matters;  the 
evidence  available  comes  largely  from  the  Annual  Register 
whose  accounts  are  tantalizingly  brief.  In  August,  1769, 
it  is  stated  that  the  handkerchief  weavers  had  taken  up  a 
subscription  of  sixpence  on  every  loom  to  sup-  weavers' 
port  their  cause  against  the  masters.  One  of  dubs 
the  master  weavers,  "that  paid  satisfactory  prices,  insisted 
notwithstanding  that  his  men  should  not  belong  to  the  sub- 
scription society  and  not  pay  such  sixpence,  and  armed  his 
people  to  defend  their  looms  against  the  body.  The  club, 
determined  to  support  the  plan  they  had  on  foot,  assembled 


372  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

themselves  to  compel  said  master's  men  to  pay  the  sub- 
scription. There  ensued  a  bloody  fray  hi  which  many  of 
both  sides  were  wounded.  Work  was  cut  out  of  fifty  looms 
belonging  to  the  master  weaver  above  mentioned  and  shortly 
after  out  of  a  hundred  other  looms." 

Further  evidence  of  the  organization  of  the  men  is  afforded 
by  the  incident  hi  September  when  an  attempt  was  made  to 
arrest  an  entire  meeting.  An  officer  with  a  party  of  soldiers 
invested  an  ale-house  in  Spitalfields  "where  a  number  of 
riotous  weavers,  commonly  called  cutters,  were  assembled 
to  collect  contributions  from  their  bretheren  toward  support- 
ing themselves  in  idleness  hi  order  to  distress  then-  masters 
and  oblige  them  to  advance  their  wages."  The  raid  resulted 
in  an  armed  fight;  the  soldiers  were  finally  obliged  to  fire 
upon  the  weavers  of  whom  they  killed  two  and  captured 
four. 

The  ultimate  result  of  this  period  of  violence  was  the 
Spitalfields  Act  of  1773,  passed  at  the  request  of  all  the  man- 
TheSpitai-  ufacturers  in  hopes  of  bringing  about  better 
fields  Act:  relations  with  the  men.  The  act  provided  that 
the  wages  of  journeymen  weavers  within  the 
limits  of  London  should  be  settled  by  the  mayor  and  alder- 
men, and  in  all  places  in  the  county  of  Middlesex  by  the 
justices  of  the  peace.  The  authorities  were  to  issue  wage- 
lists,  however,  only  upon  application.  Any  wage-list  estab- 
lished by  them  was  to  be  printed  three  tunes  in  any  two 
daily  newspapers  published  hi  London  or  Westminster. 
The  list  would  then  be  compulsory  upon  both  weavers  and 
journeymen.  Master  weavers  paying  more  or  less  wages 
would  be  fined  £50,  the  proceeds  of  such  fines  being  dis- 
tributed among  distressed  journeymen.  Journeymen  weav- 
ers, who  should  ask  or  take  greater  or  less  wages,  or 
enter  into  combinations  to  raise  them,  or  assemble  to  pe- 
tition on  the  subject  of  them  in  numbers  of  more  than  ten, 
except  when  going  to  the  magistrates,  were  subjected  to  a  fine 
of  forty  shillings.  This  act  was  subsequently  extended  to 
apply  to  all  aspects  of  the  trade  including  mixed  goods  and 
to  women  as  well  as  to  men. 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       373 

The  text  of  the  statute  might  seem  to  imply  that  the 
wages  were  actually  declared  by  the  magistrates.     The  ex- 
ception in  the  clause  relating  to  journeymen  Aformof 
not  observing  the  act  shows  that  some  form  compulsory 
of  organized  activity  on  the  part  of  the  men  was 
contemplated.     We  have  adequate  indication  of  the  actual 
methods  of  administration  employed  in  the  testimony  taken 
before  the  Lords  Committee  hi  1823  with  regard  to  the  effect 
of  the  statute.    Mr.  Hale  testified: 

A  committee  of  masters  generally  met  a  committee  of  journey- 
men, perhaps  three  or  four  or  five  on  each  side,  and,  after  they 
have  argued  the  matter,  they  come  to  an  agreement  as  to  what 
they  think  should  be  a  fair  price  for  labor.  It  is  then  taken  before 
a  magistrate  who  ratifies  it  and  it  becomes  by  law  a  fixed  price 
until  altered  by  subsequent  agreement.  If  we  cannot  come  to  an 
agreement  we  go  before  the  magistrates  at  Quarter  Sessions.  We 
each  of  us  take  witnesses  on  each  side  and  after  mutual  deliberation 
and  viewing  the  measure  in  all  its  consequences  on  both  sides  the 
magistrates  determine  it.  Of  two  instances  of  disagreement,  in 
one  case  the  magistrates  decided  in  favor  of  the  employers  and  in 
one  case  in  favor  of  the  workmen. 

The  continuity  of  administration  is  significantly  indicated 
by  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Buckeridge.  "He  had  been  en- 
gaged in  the  trade  upwards  of  fifty  years,  first  as  an  oper- 
ative weaver,  later  as  a  master."  He  says: 

I  have  assisted  in  forming  all  of  the  list  prices  that  have  been  made 
since  1784;  a  general  one  in  1795,  another  in  1800,  in  1802,  in  1804, 
an  explanatory  one  in  1805,  and  the  last,  a  general  Lists 
one,  in  1806,  and  then,  by  the  desires  of  the  masters  published 
and  the  men,  the  masters  in  particular,  compiled  the  present  book 
of  prices. 

Mr.  Buckeridge  thought  the  act  had  been  a  success,  pre- 
venting either  weavers  or  masters  from  taking  an  undue 
advantage  of  the  other. 

The  statute  was  thus  a  device  for  collective  bargaining 
with  magisterial  supervision  which  was  designed  primarily  to 
insure  observance  of  the  lists,  but  it  is  hnpor-  weals  of  the 
tant  to  recognize  that  the  magistrates  looked  magistrates 
upon  the  facts  of  the  case  more  largely  with  reference  to 


374  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

maintaining  a  definite  status  than  with  reference  to  possible 
increases  in  wages.  According  to  evidence  brought  out 
both  in  1818  and  1823  the  principle  followed  was  "to  fix 
prices  so  as  to  afford  the  journeyman  if  he  can  get  full  work 
the  income  of  other  like  skilled  craftsmen  calculated  by  the 
price  of  bread."  The  statute  was  thus  an  embodiment  of 
the  policy  represented  by  the  Statute  of  Laborers  which 
despite  its  alleged  intent  had  become  a  means  of  maintaining 
a  status  rather  than  a  means  of  sharing  in  the  benefits  of 
possible  progress. 

We  must  remember  that  the  problem  of  wage  determin- 
ation did  not  at  that  time  raise  the  issue  of  sharing  in  the 
gains  of  an  improving  technique.  There  had  been  no  change 
in  technique  sufficiently  great  to  create  the  presumption  of 
a  real  increase  in  social  well-being,  and,  although  changes 
Eighteenth-  were  beginning  to  take  place  at  the  close  of  the 
century  wage  eighteenth  century,  public  opinion  was  slow  to 
realize  the  magnitude  of  the  transformation 
then  in  process.  The  notion  of  a  status  to  be  maintained 
remained  the  predominant  feature  in  public  opinion  until 
after  the  Napoleonic  wars. 

The  significance,  and  even  the  emergence,  of  new  ideas 
is  clearly  indicated  by  the  sequel  to  the  history  of  the  wage 
regulation  in  London  afforded  by  the  conditions  at  Coventry. 
The  ribbon  manufacture  became  established  at  Coventry 
Ribbon  manu-  soon  a^er  the  prohibition  of  the  importation  of 
factureat  foreign  silks  in  1766. 1  The  trade  increased 
slowly  and  without  any  great  change  until  the 
period  of  the  Napoleonic  wars.  In  this  early  period  the 
organization  of  the  trade  was  simple  and  conditions  were  not 
unlike  those  prevailing  among  agricultural  laborers.  The 
price  of  weaving  remained  unaltered  for  many  years  and 
any  reductions  in  the  prices  paid  would  have  been  of  all 
measures  the  measure  last  contemplated  by  the  manufac- 
turer. The  old  relations  between  the  employer  and  the 
employed  had  apparently  established  a  public  opinion  as  to 

1  The  history  of  the  trade  is  told  in  the  Report  of  the  Assistant  Commis- 
sioner to  the  Royal  Committee  on  Hand-Loom  Weavers.  „ 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       375 

their  relative  position  and  comforts  which  kept  the  price  of 
labor  unaffected  by  the  excess  of  hands.  The  larger  portion 
of  the  trade  was  generally  out  of  employment  several  months 
of  each  year,  but  no  reduction  was  attempted  hi  the  prices 
paid  for  weaving. 

The  first  departure  from  the  old  system  was  at  the  big 
purl  tune  which  commenced  in  1812.    This  was  a  period  of 
great  expansion  due  to  the  sudden  and  great  demand  for 
ribbons  with  large  purl  edges.    The  demand  for  goods  was 
so  great  that  the  persons  ordinarily  employed  in  the  industry 
could  not  supply  the  trade  and  many  hands  were  called  in 
from  other  trades.    The  masters  began  to  bid  against  each 
other  for  workmen,  offering  high  prices  without  any  regard 
to  the  old  customs.    The  men  found  conditions  Couective 
favorable,  and  early  in  1813  the  single  hand-  action  by 
workers  as  a  body  petitioned  the  masters  for 
higher  wages.    The  petition  was  granted  and  a  list  prepared 
which  was  signed  by  all  the  principal  masters  of  Coventry. 
The  list  was  printed:  the  first  printed  list  of  wages  known  in 
the  Coventry  trade. 

These  conditions  continued  until  the  end  of  the  war.  The 
return  of  the  soldiers  and  the  general  disturbance  of  trade 
completely  disorganized  conditions  at  Coventry.  The 
putting-out  system  gave  place  to  the  factory  system,  and, 
at  tunes,  power  machinery  was  substituted  for  hand-looms. 
These  changes  were  indirectly  results  of  a  great  expansion 
following  1812,  for  at  that  tune  the  manufacturers  began  to 
set  up  looms  in  their  shops. 

The  depression  of  the  period  1816-20  resulted  hi  further 
experiments  with  collective  bargaining.  In  1816  the  frame- 
weavers  assembled  and  organized  as  "The  City  of  Coventry 
Weavers'  Provident  Union  for  Trade  and  Burial."  The  pur- 
pose, according  to  the  constitution,  was  to  assist  persons 
who  were  out  of  work  or  compelled  to  receive  half-pay.  The 
price  of  labor,  however,  was  very  unstable,  and,  after  a  series 
of  reductions,  meetings  were  held  by  both  masters  and  men 
and  deputations  were  appointed  by  each  side  hi  September, 
1816,  to  prepare  a  list.  The  list  was  not  maintained  for  a 


376 .          INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

fortnight,  and  a  meeting  of  the  deputations  from  each  side 
was  again  held,  and  after  deliberation  the  list  was  sent  up  to 
Attempts  to  London  to  be  registered  in  the  Court  of  Chan- 
cery, it  being  supposed  that  the  agreement 
would  be  legally  binding  on  all  who  had  signed.  This,  how- 
ever, was  of  no  avail.  Other  expedients  were  adopted  like- 
wise without  results,  until  finally  the  weavers  determined  to 
petition  Parliament  for  an  extension  of  the  Spitalfields  Act 
to  Coventry. 

The  petition  was  submitted  early  hi  1818  and  a  committee 
appointed  to  consider  the  subject.  The  presentation  of  this 
petition  is  a  curious  indication  of  how  little  the  workmen 
realized  the  changes  that  had  taken  place  in  public  opinion 
since  the  Spitalfields  Acts  were  passed.  To  them  the  statute 
was  merely  a  means  of  giving  validity  to  mutual  agreements 
that  were  difficult  to  enforce.  The  relation  of  the  statute 
to  the  old  ideals  of  rigidly  defined  status  was  lost  sight  of. 
In  the  evidence  given  before  the  Parliamentary  committee 
these  other  aspects  of  the  statute  quickly  came  to  light  and 
the  inquiry  resulted  in  making  clear  to  all  that  the  statute 
was  no  longer  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  time,  not  so  much 
because  there  was  not  still  need  of  collective  action,  but 
because  the  mechanism  of  the  statute  was  ill-adapted  to  the 
increased  complexity  of  the  problem.  The  Coventry  pe- 
tition was  denied.  The  action  of  the  committee  led  to  dis- 
satisfaction in  London.  The  masters  felt  that  the  justices 
were  favoring  the  men  because  great  concessions  could  be 
Repeal  of  the  forced  from  them  before  the  magistrates.  The 
Spitalfields  Act  London  masters  petitioned  in  1823  for  a  repeal 
of  the  statute  and  in  1824  the  act  was  repealed. 

After  the  failure  of  the  petition  of  1818  the  Coventry 
journeymen  and  masters  resumed  their  efforts  at  list-making. 
In  1819  a  list  was  framed  that  lasted  after  a  fashion  for  two 
years.  Then  there  was  no  general  list  until  1826,  when  a 
list  was  framed  that  was  partially  successful  and  not  wholly 
abandoned  until  1828.  A  list  made  in  1829  was  a  complete 
failure.  In  1831  the  persistent  under-paying  by  some 
firms  forced  the  others  to  protest  and  finally  resulted  in  a 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING        377 

general  reduction  of  wages.  This  led  to  a  strike.  There  was 
some  violence  and  much  unrest.  Committees  of  manufac- 
turers and  weavers  came  together  to  revise  the  list.  The 
masters  made  a  resolution  to  pay  by  the  piece  and  not  by 
the  day,  and  finally  voted  to  establish  "a  permanent  com- 
mittee of  twenty  manufacturers  to  watch  over  the  general 
interests  of  the  trade  and  adopt  such  measures  as  they  con- 
ceive will  prevent  encroachments  on  the  part  of  any  manu- 
facturers or  any  infringement  of  the  spirit  of  these  resolu- 
tions by  which  temporary  conditions  may  be  obtained  to 
the  injury  of  the  trade  generally."  The  committee  made  its 
first  report  in  1832.  The  difficulties  of  maintaining  the  lists 
were  serious,  but  the  later  developments  in  the  trade  were 
based  on  this  foundation. 

These  episodes  hi  the  silk  trade  are  sharper  in  outline 
than  somewhat  similar  episodes  in  the  Frame- Work  Knitting 
industry  and  in  the  woolen  industry.  The  or-  other  labor 
ganization  of  the  workmen  in  both  of  these  hi-  organizations 
dustries  was  less  exclusively  an  attempt  to  make  wage-lists. 
In  both  cases  attempts  were  made  to  enforce  the  Statute  of 
Apprentices  against  the  employers  whose  factories  were 
really  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the  old  statute.  The 
chief  result  of  that  aspect  of  these  agitations  was  the  inquiry 
of  1806  and  the  subsequent  repeal  of  the  Statute  of  Appren- 
tices in  1813.  These  associations,  however,  did  at  times 
become  involved  in  pure  wage  controversies.  The  unwilling- 
ness of  Parliament  and  the  courts  to  cooperate  in  giving 
effect  to  the  Statute  of  Apprentices  might  seem  to  indicate 
an  attitude  of  undue  favoritism,  but  it  must  be  remembered 
that  the  famous  statute  was  not  only  obsolete,  but  rapidly 
becoming  a  serious  obstacle  to  vital  changes. 

II.  THE  COMBINATION  LAWS 

In  view  of  the  continuity  of  growth  toward  collective 
bargaining  in  the  silk  trades  and  the  frequency  of  the  organ- 
ization on  many  other  trades,  it  is  peculiarly  difficult  to  es- 
timate accurately  the  significance  of  the  Combination  Laws 
of  1799  and  1800.  These  drastic  statutes  would,  if  literally 


378  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

interpreted,  prevent  any  notable  development  of  collective 
Enforcement  action  and  it  would  thus  seem  that  the  presump- 
of  the  combi-  tion  must  be  against  their  literal  interpretation. 

nation  Laws          —,.  . 

Furthermore,  it  was  asserted  by  the  clerk  of 
Hume's  committee  in  1824  that  the  Act  of  1800  "had  been 
in  general  a  dead  letter  upon  those  artisans  upon  whom  it 
was  intended  to  have  an  effect,  namely  the  shoemakers, 
printers,  paper-makers,  shipbuilders,  tailors,  etc.,  who  have 
had  their  regular  societies  and  houses  of  call  as  though  no 
such  act  was  hi  existence.  In  fact  it  would  be  almost  im- 
possible for  many  of  these  trades  to  be  carried  on  without 
such  societies  which  are  in  general  sick  and  relief  societies, 
and  the  roads  and  parishes  would  be  pestered  with  these 
traveling  trades,  who  travel  for  want  of  employment,  were 
it  not  for  their  societies  who  relieve  tramps." 

The  Statute  of  1799  seems  to  indicate  hi  its  detail  that  the 
intention  of  the  framers  was  to  insist  upon  notions  of  status 
Purpoges  in  order  to  prevent  the  dislocations  in  industry 
of  the  Act  which  were  likely  to  be  the  result  of  attempts 
to  improve  conditions.  The  act  included  a 
clause  directed  against  the  employers  so  that  there  would 
seem  to  be  a  fairly  strong  case  in  favor  of  these  ultra- 
conservative  aspects  of  the  statute.  In  section  15  1  it  is 
provided  that  nothing  shall  be  construed  to  extend  or  repeal 
the  powers  given  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  in  existing 
statutes  touching  combinations  of  manufacturers,  journey- 
men, or  workmen,  or  for  settling  disputes  between  masters 
and  their  journeymen,  or  the  rate  of  wages  to  be  paid  to 
such  journeymen.  This  clause  would  seem  to  be  a  guarantee 
for  the  maintenance  of  conditions  as  they  had  existed 
throughout  the  eighteenth  century.  The  other  clauses  of 
the  statute  which  have  attracted  more  attention  are  directed 
toward  the  newer  practices.  The  objection  seems  to  be  not 
to  the  collective  character  of  the  action,  but  to  the  unreason- 
able desire  to  change  established  conditions  of  status  on  the 
part  of  either  masters  orlnenT" 

The  first  section  has  a  very  sinister  sound  if  not  viewed 

1  The  wording  is  slightly  condensed. 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       379 

from  the  standpoint  of  this  problem  of  public  opinion.  "All 
contracts  previously  made  between  journeymen,  manu- 
facturers, or  other  workmen  for  obtaining  an  advance  of 
wages,  lessening  or  altering  their  usual  hours  of  work,  de- 
creasing the  quantity  of  their  work,  preventing  or  hindering 
any  persons  from  hiring  whom  they  choose,  controlling  or  in 
any  way  affecting  any  person  or  persons  carrying  on  any 
manufacture,  trade,  or  business,  shall  henceforth  be  illegal, 
null,  and  void."  The  animus  of  this  section  is  the  absence 
of  registration  of  these  acts  before  the  magistrate. 

The  very  famous  prohibition  of  combinations  in  section  3 
is  an  unavoidable  consequence  of  reasoning  based  on  con- 
^ceptions  of  status.  If  no  member  of  society  Thecon. 
had  legitimate  right  to  expect  significant  im-  ceptionof 
provement  in  material  welfare  an  attempt  to 
secure  a  higher  standard  of  living  by  means  of  the  strike 
must  necessarily  be  regarded  as  a  seditious  and  wicked  thing. 
We  have  become  so  habituated  to  expectations  of  improved 
standards  of  living  that  it  is  hard  for  us  to  recognize  that 
such  expectations  were  sincerely  regarded  with  apprehen- 
sion. In  a  measure  the  statute  was  an  attempt  to  strengthen 
the  hands  of  the  magistrates  in  the  enforcement  of  wage- 
lists  based  upon  existing  standards  of  living.  It  was  designed 
to  make  it  easier  to  compel  journeymen  "to  work  for  reason- 
able wages,"  and  in  view  of  the  customs  of  the  period  there 
can  be  little  doubt  as  to  the  meaning  of  the  word  "reason- 
able" in  this  statute. 

The  Statute  of  1800  adds  no  significant  prohibition  to  the 
earlier  statute,  though  some  of  its  clauses  would  remove  any 
possible  doubt  as  to  the  illegality  of  any  associa-  The  Act 
tion  of  working-men.  Societies  for  the  collec-  of  l8o° 
tion  of  funds  for  the  benefit  of  fellow-workmen  were  defi- 
nitely forbidden.  This  particular  prohibition  contains  some 
elements  of  panic  growing  out  of  the  dread  inspired  by  the 
French  Revolution.  It  was  feared  that  some  of  the  work- 
men's societies  possessed  political  significance.  These  fears 
were  probably  ill-founded,  but  their  existence  is  none  the  less 
an  explanation  of  the  drastic  character  of  the  later  statute. 
This  portion  of  the  statute  was  certainly  not  enforced. 


380  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  Statutes  of  1799  and  1800  were  only  part  of  the  legal 
basis  for  the  restraint  of  the  associations  among  working- 
men  and  the  theory  of  conspiracy  was  probably 
more  important  than  the  Combination  Laws 
themselves  because  the  penalties  were  rather  more  severe. 
The  prosecution  for  conspiracy  rested  on  certain  very  old 
statutes,  a  statute  of  Edward  I  (1305),  and  a  statute  of  Ed- 
ward VI  (1549),  both  embodying  the  notion  that  certain 
kinds  of  associations  could  be  deemed  conspiracies.  The 
earlier  of  these  statutes  was  not  very  clearly  applicable  to 
the  problems  arising  among  wage-earners.  The  statute  of 
Edward  VI,  however,  was  pretty  directly  aimed  at  crafts- 
men. The  primary  purpose  of  that  statute,  however,  was  to 
prevent  the  increase  of  prices  to  consumers.  The  craftsman 
of  that  time  was  more  nearly  a  producer  than  a  wage-earner, 
but  that  statute  contained  certain  general  clauses  against 
combinations  to  raise  wages.  Both  of  these  statutes  had 
been  forgotten,  but  were  discovered  early  in  the  nineteenth 
century  by  energetic  lawyers  employed  by  the  manufactur- 
ers, and  this  new  departure  gave  the  situation  of  the  wage- 
earner  a  much  more  desperate  appearance.  These  doctrines 
are  usually  thought  of  as  common-law  doctrines,  though  they 
rest  in  large  measure  upon  statutes. 

III.  THE  LAWS  OF  1824  AND  1825 

The  disadvantageous  position  of  the  wage-earner  in  this 
period  was  remedied  largely  through  the  activities  of  a 
Francis  master  tailor  named  Francis  Place.  He  had 

place  achieved  a  very  considerable  success  in  business, 

and,  despite  serious  handicaps,  had  educated  himself.  He 
had  been  in  contact  with  nearly  all  the  radical  elements  in 
the  intellectual  life  of  England,  including  the  very  scholarly 
group  associated  with  Bentham.  He  also  maintained  a  vital 
interest  in  political  concerns  throughout  his  career,  and,  after 
attracting  attention  by  organizing  the  artisan  vote  in  the 
Borough  of  Westminster,  exerted  a  significant  influence  upon 
the  politics  of  his  locality.  Because  he  was  self-educated,  he 
was  more  active  as  a  thinker  than  he  was  successful  in  ex- 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       381 

pressing  opinions  in  literary  form.  In  making  strength  out 
of  weakness  he  developed  a  peculiar  talent  for  organizing 
agitations  in  which  his  direct  action  was  scarcely  evident. 
In  modern  political  language  he  would  be  termed  a  "  master 
lobbyist." 

The  library  in  the  rear  of  the  tailor  shop  of  this  eccentric 
character  was  the  center  of  the  most  practical  radical  under- 
takings of  that  quarter-century.  The  library 
was  unique  in  many  respects.  It  was  in  part  a 
collection  of  Parliamentary  papers  at  a  time  when  such  evi- 
dence received  little  if  any  attention.  There  was  also  a  col- 
lection of  materials  connected  with  working-men's  associa- 
tions of  all  kinds;  clippings  from  newspapers  concerned  with 
working-men's  affairs,  and  summaries  of  cases  in  which 
working-men  had  been  prosecuted.  In  so  far  as  this  collec- 
tion was  concerned  with  the  Combination  Laws  it  was  the 
result  of  activities  deliberately  begun  hi  1814. 

In  1814  [he  says]  I  began  to  work  seriously  to  procure  a  repeal  of 
the  laws  against  combinations  of  workmen,  but  for  a  long  time 
made  no  favorable  progress.  As  often  as  any  dispute  arose  be- 
tween master  and  men  or  when  any  law  proceedings  were  had  and 
reported  in  the  newspapers  I  interfered  sometimes  with  the  masters, 
sometimes  with  the  men,  very  generally  as  far  as  I  could  by  means 
of  some  one  or  more  of  the  newspapers  and  sometimes  by  acting 
as  a  pacificator,  always  pushing  for  one  purpose,  the  repeal  of  the 
laws.  I  wrote  a  great  many  letters  to  trade  societies  in  London 
and  as  often  as  I  heard  of  any  dispute  respecting  the  Combination 
Laws  in  the  country  I  wrote  to  some  of  the  parties,  stated  my 
purpose  and  requested  information. 

In  1818  he  abandoned  his  business  to  his  son  and  devoted 
all  his  time  to  agitation.    A  small  newspaper  called  The  Gor~ 
gon  was  subsidized  by  Bentham  and  Place  and  Agitation  on 
distributed  among  the  trade  societies.     This  the  combina- 
proved  to  be  the  means  of  enlisting  the  interest 
of  Mr.  Joseph  Hume,  a  member  of  Parliament  of  Place's 
temperament,  a  professional  agitator,  an  indef atigable  advo- 
cate of  reforms  to  which  Parliament  as  a  whole  was  indiffer- 
ent.   Place  supplied  Mr.  Hume  with  much  information  and 
most  particularly  with  a  mass  of  manuscript  which  was 


382  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

transmitted  by  Hume  to  M'Culloch,  who  embodied  the  pro- 
gram of  the  radicals  in  a  notable  article  published  in  the 
Edinburgh  Review  in  1823. 

The  agitation  was  brought  into  Parliament  rather  unex- 
pectedly. Hume  himself  seemed  unable  to  make  much  prog- 
Hume's  ress  in  Parliamentary  agitation,  but  the  matter 
committee  was  brought  up  by  other  people  and  it  was 
agreed  that  a  committee  be  appointed  in  the  following  ses- 
sion (1824)  to  inquire  into  the  entire  problem.  Provision 
was  made  for  the  appointing  of  the  committee  February  24, 
1824,  and  at  first  it  was  scarcely  possible  to  get  twenty-one 
members  of  Parliament  sufficiently  interested  to  sit  as  mem- 
bers. Within  three  days  it  had  attracted  so  much  attention 
that  members  of  Parliament  were  scheming  to  get  appointed 
to  it  and  it  finally  consisted  of  forty-eight  members.  The 
success  of  this  committee  and  its  popularity  were  largely  due 
to  the  elaborately  prepared  mass  of  evidence  brought  before 
it  by  the  energy  of  Place. 

Deputations  were  sent  up  by  the  working-people  from  all 
over  England,  and  Place  opened  his  house  to  them. 

I  had  all  the  town  and  country  delegates  under  my  care;  I  heard 
the  story  which  every  one  of  these  men  had  to  tell;  I  examined  and 
cross-examined,  took  down  the  particulars  of  each  case  and  then 
arranged  the  matter  as  briefs  for  Mr.  Hume,  and,  as  a  rule,  for  the 
guidance  of  the  witnesses  a  copy  was  given  to  each.  .  .  .  The  work- 
men were  not  easily  managed;  it  required  great  care  and  pains 
and  patience  not  to  shock  their  prejudices  so  as  to  prevent  them 
doing  their  duty  before  the  committee;  they  were  filled  with«false 
notions,  all  attributing  their  distress  to  wrong  causes  which  I  in 
this  stage  of  the  business  dared  not  attempt  to  remove.1 

1  When  the  committee's  work  was  done,  the  problem  of  get- 
ting the  bills  through  the  Houses  of  Parliament  required 
The  bins  in  similar  delicacy  and  manipulation.  "I  had  still 
Parliament  one  fear)»  sayg  place>  «nameiy  of  Speech-mak- 

ing.    I  was  quite  certain  that  if  the  bills  came  under  discus- 
sion in  the  House  they  would  be  lost.     Mr.  Hume  had  the 
good  sense  to  see  this  and  wholly  to  refrain  from  speaking  on 
1  All  these  citations  are  from  the  chapter  in  Wallas's  Life  of  Place. 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       383 

them."  The  details  of  drafting  were  largely  dominated  by 
Hume  and  Place.  They  prepared  the  draft  of  the  bill,  but  a 
barrister  went  over  the  manuscript  and  gave  Place  other  ap- 
prehensions, but  fortunately  the  barrister  felt  that  his  duty 
was  done  once  the  bills  were  printed  and  thereafter  gave  him- 
self no  further  concern  about  them.  "We  now  got  them  into 
our  hands,"  says  Place,  " altered  them  as  we  liked,  had  man- 
uscript copies  made  and  presented  them  to  the  House.  No 
inquiry  was  made  as  to  who  drew  the  bills.  They  were 
found  to  contain  all  that  was  needful,  and  with  some  assidu- 
ity hi  seeing  members  to  induce  them  not  to  speak  on  the 
several  readings,  they  passed  the  House  of  Commons  almost 
without  notice  within,  or  of  the  newspapers  without."  The 
scheme  was  nearly  wrecked  in  the  Lords  by  Lord  Lauderdale, 
who  perceived  that  the  bills  had  not  been  properly  printed, 
and  if  pressure  had  not  been  brought  to  bear  upon  him  the 
case  would  have  been  lost,  but  he  was  finally  persuaded  to 
hold  his  tongue  and  the  three  statutes  were  passed:  An  Act 
to  Repeal  the  Laws  Relating  to  Combinations  of  Workmen; 
An  Act  to  codify  and  Amend  the  Laws  Relative  to  the  Arbi- 
tration of  Disputes  between  Masters  and  Workmen;  and  An 
Act  to  Repeal  the  Laws  Relative  to  Artisans  Going  Abroad. 
The  anticipations  of  the  radicals  with  reference  to  the  re- 
peal of  the  Combination  Laws  were  rather  different  than  one 
might  suppose.  In  the  writings  of  Place  hi  par-  Expectations 
ticular  there  is  little  evidence  of  an  appreciation  of  Place 
of  the  importance  of  organized  collective  bargaining.  Place 
felt  that  the  organizations  of  the  workmen  were  largely  de- 
fensive measures  against  the  tyranny  of  the  law,  and  it  was 
his  opinion  that  the  repeal  of  the  obnoxious  laws  would  di- 
minish concerted  action  among  the  laborers.  He  seems  to 
have  doubted  the  possibility  of  any  great  increase  of  wages. 
He  believed  that  wages  were  at  times  unduly  held  down  by 
the  masters  with  the  assistance  of  the  repressive  legislation, 
but  he  was  too  deeply  imbued  with  the  theory  of  Malthus  to 
believe  in  the  possibility  of  great  material  improvement  in 
the  condition  of  the  wage-earners  through  the  wage  con- 
tract. He  believed,  however,  that  the  repeal  of  the  laws 


384  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

would  promote  better  relations  between  the  masters  and 
their  men,  doing  away  with  demonstrations  of  violence 
against  the  masters  and  against  machinery.  "  Combina- 
tions," Place  wrote,  in  1825,  "will  soon  cease  to  exist.  Men 
have  been  kept  together  for  long  periods  only  by  oppression 
of  the  laws,  these  being  repealed,  combinations  will  lose  the 
matter  which  cements  them  into  masses  and  they  will  fall  to 
pieces.  All  will  be  as  orderly  as  even  a  Quaker  could  desire. 
He  knows  nothing  of  the  working  people  who  could  suppose 
that  when  left  at  liberty  to  act  for  themselves,  without  being 
driven  into  permanent  associations  by  the  oppression  of  the 
laws,  they  will  continue  to  contribute  money  for  distant  and 
doubtful  experiments,  for  uncertain  and  precarious  bene- 
fits." This  strange  misconception  of  the  vitality  of  working- 
men's  associations  must  undoubtedly  be  attributed  to  the 
erroneous  theories  of  the  radical  group  which  led  them  to 
assume  that  improvement  would  be  possible  only  through  a 
reduction  hi  the  relative  numbers  of  the  wage-earning  classes. 

The  accomplishment  of  1824  was  too  complete.  The  ex- 
isting laws  were  swept  off  the  statute  books.  The  period 
Results  of  happened  to  be  one  of  industrial  stringency  and 
repeal  ftiQ  workmen  utilized  their  newly  acquired  lib- 

erty to  engage  in  strikes  and  boycotts  on  such  a  scale  that 
the  employers  were  induced  to  believe  that  immediate  res- 
toration of  the  old  laws  was  essential.  The  employers  pre- 
pared to  duplicate  the  achievements  of  Hume  and  Place.  A 
committee  was  to  be  secured  which  was  to  serve  as  a  vehicle 
for  putting  their  bill  through  the  House  hi  a  similarly  expedi- 
tious manner.  The  Government  itself  selected  the  members 
for  the  committee  which  was  regarded  as  a  purely  formal 
preliminary  to  the  introduction  of  the  drastic  bill  prepared 
by  the  employers. 

The  activities  of  Hume  made  it  necessary  to  appoint  him 
to  the  committee  and  a  campaign  organized  by  Place  made 
Anew  it  possible  for  him  to  outwit  the  employers, 

committee  rpj^  committee  at  first  refused  to  take  evidence 
from  working-men,  but  the  motion  for  the  committee  had 
been  injudiciously  worded  and  it  proved  impossible  to  ex- 


THE  RISE  OF  COLLECTIVE  BARGAINING       385 

elude  working-men.  The  matter  was  forced  on  the  attention 
of  the  committee  by  a  carefully  organized  campaign;  peti- 
tions drafted  by  Place  were  sent  up  in  great  numbers  from  all 
parts  of  the  country.  Workmen  were  kept  hi  the  passages 
leading  to  the  committee  rooms.  Others  were  stationed  on 
the  roads  leading  to  the  Houses  of  Parliament.  Great 
masses  of  evidence  were  introduced:  the  allegations  of  the 
employers  were  shown  to  be  false  and  the  committee  was 
finally  induced  to  report  against  the  employers'  bill. 

The  bill  finally  enacted  differed  only  in  moderate  degree 
from  the  statute  of  the  previous  year.  The  essential  guaran- 
tees were  embodied  in  the  Statute  of  1825,  but  The  Act 
the  new  act  did  not  give  working-men  the  com-  of  l825 
plete  immunity  from  prosecution  that  had  led  to  the  great 
increase  in  strikes.  Under  the  new  statute  certain  kinds  of 
acts  were  designated  as  unlawful  if  undertaken  by  combina- 
tions of  working-men.  It  was  unlawful  to  enter  into  a  com- 
bination "to  induce  another  to  depart  from  his  service  before 
the  end  of  his  term,"  or  to  use  violence  or  threats  toward  an- 
other on  account  of  his  not  conforming  to  the  rules  and  regu- 
lations made  by  any  union.  It  was  likewise  unlawful  for  a 
combination  of  working-men  to  urge  any  one  to  refuse  work 
that  was  offered.  Under  the  Statute  of  1824  the  unions  would 
have  been  protected  in  attempts  to  introduce  the  "closed- 
shop"  principle;  the  new  statute  gave  the  men  guarantees 
for  the  open  shop,  but  specifically  forbade  the  doing  of 
things  that  would  be  essential  to  the  closed-shop  policy. 

The  Statute  of  1824  had  guaranteed  immunity  from  prose- 
cution "under  Common  or  Statute  Law,"  the  new  statute 
omitted  all  reference  to  the  common  law.  . 
Workmen  could  therefore  be  prosecuted  for 
conspiracy  if  the  purposes  of  the  combination  were  not  re- 
stricted to  the  determination  of  the  rates  of  wages  and  the 
hours  of  work.  Because  all  statutes  against  combination 
were  repealed  this  prosecution  would  necessarily  rest  upon 
common-law  doctrines,  so  that  the  provisions  of  this  statute 
set  up  a  sharper  distinction  between  statute  and  common- 
law  prosecutions  than  had  previously  existed. 


386  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Prosecutions  for  conspiracy  became  a  serious  menace  to 
the  members  and  leaders  of  unions.  The  trial  of  the  five 
judicial  in-  Glasgow  cotton  spinners  hi  1837  and  of  the  offi- 
terpretation  cerg  of  tne  friendly  Society  of  the  Journeyman 

Steam  Engine  Workers  hi  1846,  tended  to  emphasize  the  im- 
portance of  this  offense.  The  hostile  tendency  of  judicial 
interpretation  was  further  indicated  by  the  opinion  given  by 
Justice  Crompton  hi  1856.  All  combinations,  he  declared, 
which  tended  directly  to  impede  and  interfere  with  the  free 
course  of  trade  were  not  only  illegal,  but  criminal.  The 
qualifications  embodied  hi  the  Act  of  1825  were  thus  a  very 
serious  matter  to  the  unions.  Some  of  the  tendencies  of  in- 
terpretation were  checked  by  the  Statute  of  1859,  which  de- 
fined more  closely  the  offenses  of  molestation  and  obstruc- 
tion, but  a  new  doctrine  then  appeared  —  the  interpretation 
of  the  agreement  between  the  workmen  as  a  conspiracy  in 
restraint  of  trade,  so  that  the  constitution  of  a  union  would 
be  classified  as  a  non-enforceable  contract.  This  theory 
struck  at  the  integrity  of  all  workingmen's  societies  that 
were  in  any  way  connected  with  activities  designed  to  im- 
prove conditions  of  employment;  the  societies  found  it  diffi- 
cult to  protect  their  funds,  as  officers  could  not  be  sued  for 
embezzlement.  The  position  of  the  unions  was  thus  wholly 
unsatisfactory  until  the  Act  of  1871  gave  them  an  assured 
status. 

•  The  Act  of  1871  provided  for  the  registration  of  trade 
unions,  and,  when  registered,  gave  the  union  the  right  to 
The  Act  hold  small  amounts  of  property.  Trustees  had 

of  1871  f.ne  right  to  defend  the  property  of  the  union  inf  \}J 

court,  and  officers  of  the  union  were  bound  to  render  account  Q^ 
of  all  funds.    A  registered  trade  union  thus  possessed  some 
of  the  privileges  of  a  corporation  without  being  incorporated. 
This  anomalous  position  was  desired  by  the  friends  of  the 
unions:  full  corporate  capacity  was  not  deemed  desirable,  as 
it  might  open  the  way  to  suit  by  some  member  excluded  from 
working  contrary  to  the  interests  of  the  union.     The  Act  of_ 
1871  thus  afforded  the  unions  means  of  organizing .lorjthe_ac=_ 
complishment  of  the  purposes  that  were  made  legal  in  1825. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  AND  WELFARE 
BY  THE  STATE 

I.  OBSTACLES  TO  REFORM  AND  THE  REFORMERS 

THE  difficulties  that  beset  the  history  of  all  problems  of 
state  policy  appear  in  a  peculiarly  intense  form  with  refer- 
ence to  the  development  of  the  regulative  legis-  Miscon- 
lation  that  now  governs  the  life  of  the  working  cePtions 
classes,  protecting  them  from  vicious  exploitation  by  land- 
lords and  employers.  The  disposition  to  assume  that  Par- 
liament adopted  a  systematic  and  thorough-going  policy  of 
Icrissez-faire  at  the  hp!pnn^^g  of  the  nineteenth  century  tends 
to  distort  the  early Jiistory  of  this  entire  mass  of  legislation. 
Delay  thatwas  due  to  the  inadequacy  of  governnlenlaT  ma- 
chinery is  frequently  attributed  to  positive  unwillingness  to 
take  any  steps  in  this  direction,  and  the  fumbling  uncer- 
tainty of  the  first  statutes  is  assumed  to  be  exclusively  due 
to  the  desire  of  employers  to  retain  unfettered  control  of 
then*  business,  although  it  is  admitted  by  all  that  Parliament 
did  not  possess  the  information  requisite.  Actual  knowledge 
of  conditions  in  the  factories  and  towns  was  deficient,  and 
likewise  scientific  knowledge  of  the  principles  that  should 
properly  constitute  the  basis  of  regulative  legislation. 

Villages  had  grown  into  towns,  and  towns  of  five  or  six 
thousand  inhabitants  had  suddenly  become  towns  of  twenty, 
thirty,  or  forty  thousand.  These  new  towns  New  con- 
were  scandalously  constructed:  the  buildings  ditions 
were  unsubstantial  and  provisions  for  sanitation  were  al- 
most entirely  neglected.  Even  the  rudimentary  provision 
for  drainage  then  practiced  in  the  older  towns  was  not  made. 
There  was  much  overcrowding.  Houses  were  huddled  to- 
gether, back  to  back,  and  then  filled  with  tenants  from  cellar 
to  garret.  The  workers,  who  lived  under  these  debilitating 
conditions  when  "at  home,"  were  collected  in  factories  or 


388  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND  7 

mines  for  thirteen,  fourteen,  or  fifteen  hours  per  day.  Be- 
fore the  rise  of  the  factory  it  had  been  customary  to  work 
more  or  less  regularly  from  daylight  until  dark,  and  hi  most 
crafts  night  work  was  not  actually  prohibited.  When  the 
factories  were  established  the  long  hours  of  work  were  car- 
ried over  to  the  new  system  without  any  realization  of  the 
crucial  importance  of  the  regularity  imposed  by  the  disci- 
pline of  the  factory. 

The  condition  of  the  manufacturing  population  between 
1815  and  1840,  both  in  factories  and  in  their  own  houses,  was 
Administrative  probably  more  unfavorable  to  the  health  and 
difficulties  well-being  of  the  people  than  at  any  period  be- 
fore or  since.  The  actual  extent  of  these  evils  can  hardly  be 
exaggerated;  but  it  would  seem  unfortunate  to  represent 
them  as  the  result  of  a  deliberate  policy.  The  neglect  of 
regulative  measures  was  not  the  result  of  a  policy  of  non- 
interference in  the  sense  that  might  readily  be  conveyed  by 
much  writing  of  the  Fabians  and  persons  of  kindred  sympa- 
thies. The  unreformed  constitution  of  England  was  ill- 
adapted  to  these  new  problems  of  administration.  It  had 
no  means  of  carrying  out  a  policy  of  regulation  other  than 
the  local  officials  of  parish,  county,  or  town.  There  was  no 
central  administrative  system.  The  old  regulative  legisla- 
tion concerning  the  working  classes  had  been  administered 
by  the  justices  of  the  peace  or  by  special  officials  appointed 
in  the  parishes.  The  existing  mechanism  of  local  govern- 
ment was  thus  scarcely  adequate  for  more  than  the  simplest 
problems  of  a  rural  community. 

The  development  of  an  effective  administrative  regulation 
of  industry  and  of  social  conditions  was  slow  because  it  was 
incompatible  necessary  not  merely  to  secure  the  adoption  of 
branches  of  new  policies,  but  to  create  an  administrative 

government  '          -     .    .          „  ,  .  , 

system  capable  of  giving  effect  to  the  new  ideas. 
The  obstacle  to  reform  was  in  part  the  inertia  of  opinion  with 
reference  to  problems  of  social  policy  that  were  distressingly 
new,  and  in  part  the  genuine  difficulty  of  creating  an  admin- 
istrative system  that  should  be  adequately  coordinated  with 
the  mechanism  of  Parliamentary  government.  Any  student 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      389 

of  the  institutional  history  of  France  under  the  Third  Re- 
public will  appreciate  the  extreme  difficulty  of  securing 
proper  correlation  between  the  legislative  and  administra- 
tive branches  of  the  Government.  There  ig  an  faherent  in- 
compatibility between  administration  <tf  a  cp"fiftfl|ffij[  +yp«* 
and  the  fundamental  ideas  of  Parliamentary  government. 
Administrative  departments  cannot  be  independent  of  Par- 
liamentary control,  and  at  tunes  it  is  well-nigh  impossible  to 
conduct  efficient  departments  subject  to  the  incessant  med- 
dling of  Parliament.  If  one  is  willing  to  recognize  the  reality 
of  these  constitutional  problems,  there  is  justification  for  re- 
garding the  history  of  the  nineteenth  century  as  a  period  of 
definite  and  persistent  growth  toward  effective  central  con- 
trol of  matters  pertaining  to  the  welfare  of  society  in  general, 
with  particular  emphasis  upon  the  welfare  of  the  lower 
classes.  Much  yet  remains  to  be  done,  but  it  is  possible  now 
to  perceive  the  larger  outlines  of  a  centralized  adminstrative 
system. 

The  resistance  to  this  accomplishment  has  been  serious, 
and  it  would  be  undesirable  to  convey  an  impression  that 
might  cause  it  to  be  minimized,  but,  at  the  same  tune,  it  is 
important  to  recognize  clearly  the  nature  of  the  resistance. 
There  was  much  casual  reference  hi  Parliamentary  debate  to 
the  catchwords  of  the  laissez-faire  policy,  but  these  refer- 
ences appear  on  both  sides  of  the  house,  and  Empiricism 
there  is  a  disposition  among  many  students  of  fo™****- 
social  legislation  to  attach  small  importance  to  these  al- 
leged principles.  Scarce  any  of  the  major  enactments  were 
advocated  or  opposed  on  well-defined  issues  of  principle. 
Substantive  legislation  was  at  all  tunes  frankly  empirical: 
particular  evils  were  dealt  with  in  such  measure  as  they  were 
brought  to  the  attention  of  Parliament.  It  would  thus  seem 
that  the  principles  of  laissez-faire  were,  of  all  obstacles,  the 
least  important.  Ignorance  of  the  facts  and  lack  of  proper 
administrative  officers  were,  on  the  other  hand,  fundamen- 
tal. The  chief  difficulty  in  opinion  lay  in  the  bias  of  Eng- 
lishmen, both  members  of  Parliament  and  the  squirearchy, 
against  central  government. 


390  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

This  view  was  most  energetically  expressed  by  the  group 
of  idealists  who  developed  a  cult  of  a  political  philosophy 
Opponents  from  studies  in  Anglo-Saxon  law.  They  de- 

of  central- 

clared  that  the  essence  of  English  polity  lay  in 


the  rights  of  local  self-government.  They  opposed  adminis- 
trative centralization  both  as  a  bad  policy  and  as  an  uncon- 
stitutional encroachment  upon  the  rights  of  Englishmen. 
Toulmin  Smith  became  the  leader  of  this  group,  and  his  book 
Local  Government  and  Centralization  affords  a  significant  op- 
portunity to  appreciate  the  extent  to  which  old  traditions 
became  an  obstacle  to  reform  even  when  they  did  not  be- 
come the  basis  of  a  consciously  adopted  political  ideal. 

It  was  genuinely  difficult  to  induce  Parliament  to  create 
official  positions  that  might  result  in  a  real  control  over  local 
authorities  or  local  funds.  The  reforms  of  the  poor-laws 
proposed  in  1832-33  by  the  commission  of  inquiry  were  radi- 
cally amended,  in  fact  wrecked,  by  the  unwillingness  of  Par- 
liament to  delegate  sufficient  authority  to  central  officials. 
The  factory  inspectorjjtppointed  under  the  Act  of  1833jire 
usually  regarded  as  the  first  agents  of  a  centralized  adminis- 
trative sfiyvifip;  the  beginning  of  thg  vnvfl^jflB  of  trie  sphere 
pf  authority  longguaranteed  to  local  officials!  The  social 
transformatiofiTblFought  about  by  tKe  "TnoTiis'trial  Revolution 
created  problems  that  required  a  complete  reorganization  of 
the  government.  The  reform  of  the  House  of  Commons  as  a 
legislative  body  is  well  known.  The  development  of  a  cen- 
tral administrative  system  is  less  consciously  recognized  as  a 
feature  of  the  past  century. 

The  development  of  this  administrative  organization  was 
the  result  of  pressure  brought  to  bear  upon  Parliament  from 
TWO  schools  the  outside.  The  advocates  of  increased  cen- 
of  reform  ^j  authority  used  much  the  same  methods  as 
were  followed  by  the  advocates  of  laissez-faire  policies  in  the 
field  of  commerce  and  fiscal  legislation.  The  two  move- 
ments really  proceeded  simultaneously  in  their  earlier  de- 
velopments, though  the  free-trade  agitation  achieved  con- 
spicuous results  more  rapidly. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      391 

England  was  indeed  fortunate  [says  Redlich]  in  the  almost 
simultaneous  success  of  two  very  different,  but  not  necessarily 
conflicting  modes  of  thought.  The  first  is  the  Manchester  School, 
usually  associated  with  the  names  of  Mr.  Cobden,  and  Mr.  Bright 
and  with  the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws  in  1846.  The  second  is  the 
philanthropic  or  socialistic  school,  usually  associated  with  the 
name  of  Lord  Shaftesbury  and  with  the  introduction  of  factory 
legislation.  .  .  .  Public  Health  Legislation  and  Chadwick's  labors 
may  therefore  be  regarded,  not  only  as  a  natural  development  of 
the  work  of  local  authorities  from  their  early  duties  of  keeping  the 
peace,  maintaining  the  roads  or  supporting  the  poor,  but  also  as 
symptomatic  of  a  more  general  movement  for  extending  the  sphere 
of  internal  administration  and  of  multiplying  the  supervisory 
powers  and  positive  duties  of  the  State  in  relation  to  its  citizens.1 

Although  Shaftesbury  and  Chadwick  were  closely  associ- 
ated in  a  common  cause,  and  at  one  time  colleagues  on  the 
Board  of  Health,  their  purposes  and  ideals  were  _ 

Shaftesbuiy 

widely  different.  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper, 
later  the  seventh  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  was  a  member  of  a 
historic  family  whose  members  had  been  conspicuous  in 
government  and  society  for  a  century  and  a  half.  He  had 
the  capacities  and  the  opportunity  for  the  political  career 
that  was  open  to  members  of  the  aristocracy,  but  he  soon 
withdrew  from  the  official  positions  which  would  have  led  by 
natural  sequence  to  ministerial  responsibility.  He  was  in- 
clined to  devote  himself  to  astronomy,  and,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  certain  coincidences,  the  scientific  bent  of  his  mind  might 
have  gained  permanent  ascendancy.  It  so  happened,  how- 
ever, that  his  attention  was  directed  at  the  critical  juncture 
to  the  problems  of  lunacy  and  ultimately  to  the  factory  ques- 
tion. The  provision  of  better  care  for  the  insane  was  the  be- 
ginning of  his  philanthropic  work,  but  he  had  not  at  that 
time  made  any  decision  as  to  his  life-work.  The  larger  issue 
was  presented  to  him  by  the  invitation  to  undertake  the  di- 
rection of  the  Factory  Bill  in  the  House  of  Commons.  He 
then  realized  that  identification  with  the  movement  for  re- 
form would  enlist  him  in  a  cause  which  would  require  his  best 
energies  and  entail  the  sacrifice  of  not  a  few  connections  with 
his  own  class.  The  task  that  was  assumed  at  the  time  was 
1  Redlich,  J.:  English  Local  Government  (London,  1903),  I,  136. 


392  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

consciously  recognized  by  him  as  the  beginning  of  a  life- 
work. 

The  character  of  his  contribution  to  the  reform  movement 
reflects  in  great  measure  the  circumstances  of  this  decision. 
His  attitude  With  Shaftesbury  reform  was  not  a  matter  of 
toward  reform  principles,  but  a  recognition  of  specific  evils  by 
a  quickened  social  conscience.  His  work  was  empirical.  A 
diligent  and  fearless  investigator  of  concrete  evils,  he  was 
conscious  of  no  political  principle  in  the  abstract  sense  of  the 
term,  but  he  was  convinced  that  any  government  was  morally 
responsible  for  the  continuance  of  preventable  evil  that  had 
once  been  brought  to  its  attention.  His  distinction  lay  in 
the  untiring  energy  with  which  the  social  condition  of  the 
laboring  classes  was  studied,  and  in  the  warm-hearted  sym- 
pathy that  enabled  him  to  establish  vital  personal  friend- 
ships with  people  of  a  class  that  was  far  removed  from  that  of 
his  birth. 

Edwin  Chadwick  was  of  middle-class  origin,  and  unlike 
Shaftesbury,  was  uncompromising  in  the  advocacy  of  a  defi- 
nite principle  hi  the  work  of  social  reform. 

Chadwick  .     .   .  1,1 

Chadwick  contemplated  a  career  in  law,  but 
devoted  a  portion  of  his  energies  to  the  writing  of  review 
articles.  His  attention  was  drawn  to  problems  of  public 
health  by  an  allegation  of  one  of  the  Government  actuaries 
that  the  expectation  of  life  had  not  increased  among  the 
members  of  the  middle  class  despite  the  improvement  of  the 
general  conditions  of  living.  The  subject  was  at  first  stud- 
ied with  the  detached  interest  given  to  mere  stuff  for  an  arti- 
cle. "But  as  the  labor  progressed  a  new  train  of  reasoning 
came  into  his  mind,  which  in  the  end  developed  into  what  he 
called  the  'sanitary  idea,'  that  is  to  say,  the  idea  that  a  man 
could,  by  getting  at  first  principles,  and  by  arriving  at  causes 
which  affect  health,  mould  life  altogether  into  its  natural 
cast,  and  beat  what  had  hitherto  been  accepted  as  fate,  by 
getting  behind  fate  itself  and  suppressing  the  forces  which 
led  up  to  it  at  their  prime  source."  l 

1  Richardson:  The  Health  of  Nations;  a  Review  of  the  Works  of  Edwin  Chad- 
wick,  I,  xxvii. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      393 

This  essay  appeared  in  the  Westminster  Review  in  April, 
1828,  under  the  title  "Life  Assurance,"  and  was  followed  the 
next  year  by  articles  in  the  London  Review  entitled  "Preven- 
tive Police"  and  "Public  Charities  of  France."  These  three 
articles  contained  the  essential  principles  of  a  definite  ad- 
ministrative policy  based  upon  the  example  of  France  and 
Germany.  Energetic  central  control  of  matters  pertaining 
to  the  public  health  was  recommended  in  hopes  of  signifi- 
cantly increasing  the  expectation  of  life  of  all  classes  of  the 
community.  These  articles  brought  Chadwick  more  promi- 
nently to  the  attention  of  the  circle  of  the  philosophic  radi- 
cals; Bentham,  James,  and  John  Stuart  Mill.  It  is  doubtful, 
however,  if  these  ideas  would  have  become  more  than  a  per- 
sonal opinion  had  not  official  position  brought  official 
Chadwick  into  daily  contact  with  the  problems  p°sitions 
involved.  He  was  admitted  to  the  bar  and  was  not  indis- 
posed to  devote  himself  to  the  general  practice  of  law  when 
the  constitution  of  the  Commission  on  the  Poor-Laws  led  to 
his  being  offered  the  position  of  Assistant  Commissioner. 
After  some  hesitation  he  accepted  and  for  twenty-two  years 
was  actively  concerned  as  investigator  and  administrator  in 
the  reorganization  of  poor-relief,  factory  inquiries,  and  the 
development  of  systematic  protection  of  the  health  of  the 
public.  Although  he  usually  held  offices  that  were  techni- 
cally subordinate,  he  exerted  a  controlling  influence  upon 
legislative  and  administrative  policy.  The  sharply  defined 
conceptions  that  he  brought  to  his  task  proved  to  be  an  ob- 
stacle to  his  permanent  enjoyment  of  official  position.  It 
was  politically  impossible  to  give  full  effect  to  his  ideals  of 
administration.  He  desired  a  greater  measure  of  central 
authority  than  public  sentiment  was  prepared  for,  and  this, 
together  with  an  unconciliatory  attitude,  forced  him  to  re- 
tire from  public  life.  The  Board  of  Health,  organized  in 
1848  largely  as  a  result  of  his  influence,  became  so  unpopular 
that  it  was  discontinued  in  1854  and  Chadwick  was  sacrificed 
to  popular  clamor. 

In  the  common  judgment  of  the  time  [says  Sir  John  Simon]  it 
was  he  who  upset  the  coach.   As  the  credit  of  having  originated 


394  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  Board  of  Health  had  been  due  to  him,  so  to  him  was  ascribed, 
Charac-  with  every  depreciative  term,  the  policy  which  had 

terization  brought  it  to  an  end;  and  Mr.  Chad  wick  bore  in 

those  days  the  distinction  which  has  been  many  a  reformer's  crown 
of  laurel,  that  he  was  among  the  best  abused  men  of  his  time.  .  .  . 
In  the  earlier  stages  of  Mr.  Chadwick's  career,  when  the  essence 
of  his  work  was  to  force  public  attention  to  the  broad  facts  and 
consequences  of  a  great  public  neglect,  it  mattered  comparatively 
little  whether,  among  his  eminent  qualifications,  he  possessed  the 
quality  of  judicial  patience;  but  in  his  subsequent  position  of 
authority,  demands  for  the  exercise  of  that  virtue  were  great  and 
constant,  and  Mr.  Chadwick  seems  not  to  have  been  gifted  with 
the  quality  in  degree  sufficient  for  administrative  success.  .  .  .  He 
perhaps  did  not  sufficiently  recognize  that  the  case  was  one  in 
which  deliberate  national  consents  had  to  be  obtained,  and  in 
which  therefore  no  real,  no  permanent,  success  could  be  won,  ex- 
cept in  proportion  as  the  people  and  their  representative  bodies 
should  have  made  way  in  a  necessarily  gradual  process  of  educa- 
tion. He  could  not  have  advisedly  thought  it  possible  to  snatch 
his  verdict,  and  to  revolutionize  national  habits  by  surprise;  but 
he  probably  hoped  to  achieve  in  a  few  years  the  results  which  not 
ten  times  his  few  years  could  see  achieved;  and  where  others  on  all 
sides  were  hanging  back,  his  ardour  seemed  ready  to  undertake 
the  work  of  all.  .  .  .  Mr.  Chadwick,  beyond  any  man  of  his  time, 
knew  what  large  additions  of  human  misery  were  accruing  day  by 
day  under  the  then  almost  universal  prevalence  of  sanitary  neg- 
lect, and  the  indignation  which  he  was  entitled  to  feel  at  the 
spectacle  of  so  much  needless  human  suffering  is  a  not  ignoble 
excuse  for  such  signs  of  overeagerness  as  he  may  have  shown.  * 

This  judgment  by  a  successor  in  the  work  of  sanitary  re- 
form reflects  more  completely  than  any  statement  by  an  un- 
official  person  the  conviction  of  the  reality  of  the 


of  Chadwick's  obstacles  to  reform  that  lay  in  the  mere  inertia 
of  common  opinion.  Furthermore,  the  experi- 
ence of  the  generations  that  followed  has  shown  that  this  de- 
votion to  the  old  traditions  of  local  self-government  was  not 
without  meaning,  and,  though  it  is  not  always  possible  to 
respect  the  tradition,  it  is  none  the  less  assured  that  central 
control  is  not  a  remedy  for  many  types  of  difficulty.  Sir 
John  Simon  felt  convinced  that  Chadwick  underestimated 
the  value  of  the  cooperation  of  local  authorities,  and  there 
1  Simon,  Sir  John:  English  Sanitary  Institutions,  231. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      395 

was  an  element  of  exaggeration  in  some  of  Chadwick's  views, 
but  despite  extravagances  in  detail  Chadwick's  faith  in  the 
superiority  of  central  administration  has  been  justified. 

II.  SANITATION 

The  sanitary  condition  of  the  towns  of  the  United  King- 
dom at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  showed  no 
essential  or  systematic  improvement  over  the  conditions 
that  had  prevailed  for  a  century  or  more.  There  were  be- 
ginnings of  a  new  order,  indeed,  but  by  reason  of  deficiencies 
hi  technical  knowledge  and  the  absence  of  systematic  and 
comprehensive  application  of  what  little  was  known,  the 
" improvements"  resulted  at  times  in  intensification  of  the 
old  evil.  Sewers  had  existed  hi  the  larger  cities 
for  a  long  period,  but  these  drains  were  designed 
to  care  for  surface  water  only,  a  function  that  was  discharged 
imperfectly  enough  because  of  the  inadequacy  or  absence  of 
pavements  hi  the  city  streets.  In  many  towns  uncovered 
ditches  were  the  only  provision  made  for  surface  drainage, 
and  in  some  cases  the  authorities  were  satisfied  that  they  had 
done  all  that  was  requisite  when  they  had  unproved  the 
courses  of  small  brooks  or  streams  that  seemed  to  be  well 
located. 

The  waste  from  houses,  under  these  circumstances,  was  by 
necessity  turned  into  cesspools,  the  details  of  whose  con- 
struction was  largely  left  to  individuals.  The  House 
results  can  be  imagined.  Conveniences  were  of  waste 
the  most  primitive  description.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  water-closets  were  gradually  introduced, 
but  imperfections  of  design  made  them  less  effective  than 
they  might  have  been,  and  their  chief  value  from  the  point  of 
view  of  public  sanitation  was  destroyed  by  the  absence  of 
any  general  system  for  the  removal  of  waste  from  houses  in 
streams  of  running  water.  At  the  close  of  the  eighteenth 
century  the  public  sewers  began  to  be  connected  with  private 
houses,  but  there  was  no  notion  of  creating  a  general  system 
of  public  sewers  for  the  removal  of  waste.  While  Medical 
Ofiicer  of  the  City  of  London  (1848-51),  Dr.  John  Simon  sue- 


396  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ceeded  in  abolishing  the  private  cesspool  within  the  limits  of 
the  "City,"  but  it  was  "still  almost  universal  in  the  metropo- 
lis, ...  and  in  mansions  of  the  West  End  [was]  regarded  as 
equally  sacred  with  the  wine  cellar."  At  its  best,  the  older 
system  is  not  incompatible  with  public  health,  and  as  now 
administered  in  many  Continental  cities  it  is  free  from  the 
evils  that  were  responsible  for  the  fevers  that  destroyed  the 
lives  of  so  many  and  lowered  the  standards  of  health  of  the 
entire  community. 

The  evils  of  the  early  nineteenth  century  were  primarily 
due  to  the  inadequacy  of  the  means  for  the  removal  of  waste 
in  the  poorer  quarters  of  the  towns.  A  great  mass  of  mate- 
rial was  collected  in  184CM2  by  the  Poor-Law  Commis- 
sioners, most  of  it  being  a  reiteration  of  identical  abuses, 
inadequacies,  and  neglect.  From  Liverpool,  Dr.  Duncan 
reported : 

The  sewerage  of  Liverpool  was  so  very  imperfect,  that  about 
ten  years  ago  a  local  act  was  procured,  appointing  commissioners 
Liverpool  with  power  to  levy  a  rate  on  the  parish  for  the  con- 

in  1840  struction  of  sewers.  Under  that  act,  which  expires 

next  year,  about  £100,000  have  been  expended  in  the  formation 
of  sewers  along  the  main  streets,  but  many  of  these  are  still  un- 
sewered:  and  with  regard  to  the  streets  inhabited  by  the  working 
classes,  I  believe  that  the  great  majority  are  without  sewers,  and 
that  where  they  do  exist  they  are  of  a  very  imperfect  kind  unless 
the  ground  has  a  natural  inclination,  therefore  the  surface  water 
and  fluid  refuse  of  every  kind  stagnate  in  the  street,  and  add  espe- 
cially in  hot  weather  their  pestilential  influence  to  that  of  the  more 
solid  filth  already  mentioned.  With  regard  to  the  courts,  I  doubt 
whether  there  is  a  single  court  in  Liverpool  which  communicates 
with  the  street  by  an  underground  drain,  the  only  means  afforded 
for  carrying  off  the  fluid  dirt  being  a  narrow,  open,  shallow  gutter 
which  sometimes  exists,  but  even  this  is  very  generally  choked  up 
with  stagnant  filth. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  emanations  from  this  pestilential 
surface,  in  connexion  with  other  causes,  are  a  frequent  source 
Effect  on  of  fever  among  the  inhabitants  of  these  undrained 

health  localities.  I  may  mention  two  instances  in  corrob- 

oration  of  this  assertion:  in  consequence  of  finding  that  not  less 
than  sixty-three  cases  of  fever  had  occurred  in  one  year  in  Union 
Court,  Banastre  Street  (containing  twelve  houses),  I  visited  the 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      397 

court  in  order  to  ascertain,  if  possible,  their  origin,  and  I  found 
the  whole  court  inundated  with  fluid  filth  which  had  oozed  through 
the  walls  from  two  adjoining  ash-pits  and  cesspools,  and  which 
had  no  means  of  escape  in  consequence  of  the  court  being  below 
the  level  of  the  street  and  having  no  drain.  .  .  .  The  house  nearest 
the  ash-pit  had  been  untenanted  for  nearly  three  years  in  conse- 
quence of  the  filthy  matter  oozing  up  through  the  floor,  and  the 
occupants  of  the  adjoining  houses  were  unable  to  take  their  meals 
without  previously  closing  the  doors  and  windows. l .  .  . 

The  remedy  for  these  evils  was  to  be  found  in  the  develop- 
ment of  the  more  economical  system  of  removal  of  waste  by 
means  of  a  continuous  flow  of  running  water  Proposed 
through  properly  constructed  and  ventilated  reforms 
sewers.  Chad  wick  was  convinced  that  such  a  system  of  sew- 
age removal  would  be  cheaper  in  the  end  than  any  system 
dependent  upon  the  emptying  of  private  cesspools  by  any 
form  of  hand  labor  or  by  mechanical  devices.  The  initial 
costs  would  of  course  be  high,  but  the  moderate  daily  charge 
would  in  his  opinion  more  than  warrant  the  great  outlay. 
The  use  of  glazed  earthenware  conduits  in  establishing  con- 
nections between  houses  and  the  main  sewers  constituted  an 
important  technical  detail,  rendering  these  smaller  conduits 
entirely  inoffensive  and  sanitary. 

The  inadequacy  of  existing  methods  of  caring  for  these 
problems  was  first  brought  generally  to  the  attention  of  the 
public  by  the  Poor-Law  Commissioners  in  the  First  in- 
report  previously  cited.  The  officers  in  charge  «uiries 
of  relief  discovered  that  fevers  and  other  preventable  dis- 
eases were  among  the  most  frequent  causes  of  destitution 
among  adults  that  were  in  general  able-bodied.  The  prema- 
ture death  of  the  bread-winners  or  long-continued  debility 
would  inevitably  bring  an  entire  family  upon  the  rates. 
These  cases  of  destitution  were  clearly  due  to  the  general 
conditions  of  life,  which  were  forced  upon  the  poor  by  no 
choice  of  their  own.  It  was  an  unescapable  hazard.  Re- 
ports made  in  1838  and  1839  by  the  Medical  Officers  for  the 
Metropolis  were  communicated  to  the  Ministers,  and,  in 

1  Report  from  the  Poor-Law  Commissioners  on  an  Inquiry  into  the  Sanitary 
Condition  of  the  Labouring  Population  of  Great  Britain  (London,  1842),  31. 


398  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

August,  1839,  the  Poor-Law  Commission  was  ordered  to  use 
its  agencies  and  staff  in  making  an  inquiry  into  the  sani- 
tary conditions  affecting  the  laboring  classes  throughout  the 
United  Kingdom.  The  Commission  collected  detailed  re- 
ports from  its  medical  officers  and  from  its  inspectors.  In 
1842  a  general  report,  largely  the  work  of  Chadwick,  was 
submitted  to  the  Government. 

Although  it  is  hardly  likely  that  the  conclusions  of  Chad- 
wick's  report  were  doubted,  a  Royal  Commission  was  ap- 
pointed in  1843  to  consider  the  same  subject.  The  Com- 
mission soon  came  to  regard  Mr.  Chadwick  as  a  colleague 
working  with  them  confidentially,  and  at  no  stage  in  their 
proceedings  was  there  any  exhibition  of  a  contentious  spirit 
between  the  Royal  Commissioners  and  the  Poor-Law  Board. 
Mr.  Chadwick,  in  fact,  informed  personal  friends  that  he  ac- 
companied several  of  the  commissioners  on  their  tours  of  in- 
spection and  actually  drafted  the  first  report  as  well  as  the 
recommendations  of  the  second.  Chadwick's  report  and  the 
reports  of  this  Commission  made  a  deep  impression  upon  the 
public  mind  so  that  there  was  no  question  of  the  need  of  leg- 
islation. A  bill  was  introduced  in  1845,  but  political  exigen- 
cies delayed  the  passage  of  general  public  health  legislation 
until  1848. 

The  Public  Health  Act  of  1848  made  less  generous  provi- 
sion for  the  needs  of  the  time  than  the  reception  of  the  re- 
Public  Health  ports  would  lead  one  to  anticipate.  A  General 
Act:  1848  Board  of  Health  was  established,  but  the  oppo- 
sition forced  the  Government  to  limit  its  existence  to  five 
years,  a  device  which  gave  factious  opposition  an  unfortu- 
nately strong  point  of  vantage  in  attacking  the  Board.  Lo- 
cal Boards  of  Health  might  be  set  up  in  towns  of  more  than 
three  thousand  inhabitants,  in  places  showing  an  annual 
mortality  in  excess  of  twenty-three  deaths  per  thousand. 
The  General  Board  was  given  power  to  require  the  locality 
to  acquire  the  sanitary  powers  provided  in  the  act  for  Local 
Boards.  The  duties  of  the  General  Board  consisted  prima- 
rily in  the  supervision  and  control  of  the  Local  Boards.  The 
greatest  deficiency  in  the  act  lay  in  the  inadequacy  of  provi- 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   399 

sion  for  expert  assistance:  no  provision  was  made  for  perma- 
nent officials  possessed  of  training  in  medicine  or  civil  en- 
gineering. Two  years  later  the  need  for  medical  assistance 
was  met  by  attaching  a  salaried  medical  officer  to  the  Cen- 
tral Office  of  the  Board,  but  the  engineering  profession  was 
never  adequately  represented.  The  Board  was  required  to 
consult  particular  engineers  with  reference  to  each  proposal, 
and,  as  the  engineers  consulted  in  this  manner  must  needs  be 
engaged  hi  private  practice,  there  were  opportunities  for  an 
engineer  to  secure  in  official  position  knowledge  that  would 
be  of  advantage  to  him  hi  his  private  capacity.  The  mem- 
bers of  the  profession  came  to  feel  that  the  preferments  of  the 
Board  created  an  unfair  competition  hi  the  profession,  so 
that  the  full  influence  of  the  professional  group  was  soon 
directed  against  the  Board. 

The  Board  possessed  sufficient  authority  to  make  itself 
thoroughly  hated  by  the  local  authorities,  who  were  indiffer- 
ent to  the  health  of  the  public,  without  having  . 

,  .  .         5T  i        i      *c   •   i  Opposition 

any  means  of  requiring  these  local  officials  to 
make  use  of  the  powers  that  they  could  be  obliged  to  acquire. 
The  natural  tendency  of  this  relation  between  central  and 
local  government  was  not  tempered  by  Chad  wick's  distrust 
of  local  agencies,  so  that  the  unpopularity  of  the  Board  grew 
rapidly  to  serious  proportions.  As  the  Board  was  not  di- 
rectly associated  with  any  ministerial  position  it  was  without 
defense  in  Parliament.  In  the  beginning  the  attack  was  a 
personal  attack  upon  Chadwick  rather  than  upon  the  idea  of 
a  General  Board  of  Health,  and  it  seemed  likely  that  the 
Board  could  be  saved  by  sacrificing  Chadwick  to  his  enemies. 
The  temporary  character  of  the  provision  for  the  Board, 
however,  prevented  the  realization  of  these  hopes.  The  old 
Board  was  allowed  to  lapse,  though  its  more  important  du- 
ties and  powers  were  shortly  after  provided  for  by  an  annual 
act.  This  temporizing  with  the  opposition  was  in  the  end 
responsible  for  a  confusion  of  administrative  jurisdictions 
which  ultimately  did  serious  hi  jury  to  the  cause  of  sanitary 
reform,  and  the  history  of  this  legislation  thus  illustrates  to 
a  remarkableHegree  the  power  of  petty  selfish  interests  to 


400  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

thwart  well-conceived  designs  for  reform  despite  deep  con- 
victions of  the  need  of  reform  measures  on  the  part  of  many 


Despite  the  partial  reconstitution  of  the  Board  of  Health 
in  1858  under  the  Local  Government  Act  of  that  year,  the 
Foundations  period  from  1854  to  1871  can  best  be  regarded 
for  health  ^  a  sort  of  interim  characterized  rather  by 
the  development  of  the  technique  of  supervision 
and  administrative  control  than  by  actual  administrative 
work.  Chad  wick  had  been  guided  more  largely  by  abstract 
principles  than  by  technical  knowledge.  The  medical  fra- 
ternity and  especially  a  number  of  its  members  who  held 
various  official  posts  furnished  in  these  years  a  mass  of  tech- 
nical knowledge  concerning  the  prevalence  of  disease,  and 
the  causes  of  endemic  and  epidemic  diseases.  They  began 
to  form  a  body  of  statistical  knowledge  and  to  develop  a 
technique  in  the  collection  and  interpretation  of  statistics 
that  was  fundamental  in  health  administration.  The  offi- 
cials of  the  census  cooperated  in  giving  such  form  to  the  pub- 
lications of  that  department  as  would  be  most  illuminating 
in  the  study  of  mortality  and  its  causes.  Consciousness  of 
the  imperfections  of  knowledge  as  well  as  lack  of  adequate 
powers  directed  the  attention  of  those  most  concerned  with 
the  work  toward  the  laying  of  foundations  for  the  future. 
The  defective  organization  of  the  service  was  for  these  rea- 
sons no  calamity  during  these  years;  but  it  is  difficult  to  re- 
gard the  legislation  of  1872-75  with  similar  complacency. 
It  was  then  high  time  that  the  hopes  of  the  preceding  years 
should  be  fulfilled,  and  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  excuse 
further  delay  on  grounds  of  ignorance  of  the  proper  means  to 
secure  the  desired  end. 

The  known  deficiencies  of  the  local  authorities  in  carrying 
out  sanitary  reforms  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  a  Royal 
Commission  Commission  in  1868  to  investigate  conditions 
of  1868  an(j  £0  recommend  new  legislation.  The  report 

emphasized  the  utter  inadequacy  of  laws  that  merely  created 
opportunities  for  the  acquisition  of  powers  by  local  authori- 
ties, and  the  ineffective  administration  of  powers  acquired 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   401 

was  likewise  pointed  out.  The  Commissioners  were  dis- 
posed to  believe  that  there  were  too  many  local  bodies  pos- 
sessed of  similar  or  overlapping  powers.  The  closely  related 
jurisdictions  of  health  and  poor-law  authorities  presented,  hi 
fact,  many  instances  of  ill-defined  correlation.  The  existing 
central  authority  was  deemed  to  be  unduly  diffused  among 
officials  associated  with  different  departments  of  the  Govern- 
ment. The  Privy  Council,  the  Local  Government  Act  Office, 
the  Poor-Law  Board,  the  Board  of  Trade,  and  the  Home 
Office,  all  participated  hi  the  supervision  of  matters  closely 
related  to  the  public  health.  The  Commission  therefore 
recommended  the  consolidation  of  all  these  related  functions 
in  one  office,  whose  political  head  should  have  a  seat  hi  Par- 
liament. It  was  suggested  that  the  Health  Department  and 
the  Poor-Law  Administration  should  have  separate  perma- 
nent secretaries  and  thus  be  maintained  as  independent  de- 
partments in  actual  administration,  although  they  were  un- 
der one  political  head.  There  was  nothing  unstatesmanlike 
in  this  recommendation,  and  if  it  had  been  carried  out  to  the 
letter  much  good  might  have  been  done. 

The  text  of  the  Act  of  1871,  however,  was  not  very  specific 
with  reference  to  the  departmental  organization  of  the  office, 
and  Mr.  Stansfeld,  the  chief  of  the  new  office,  The  new 
took  more  authority  into  his  own  hand  than  officers 
was  contemplated  by  the  Commission.  He  had  formerly 
been  connected  with  the  Poor-Law  Board,  and  upon  his  ap- 
pointment proceeded  to  fill  nearly  all  the  places  under  his 
direction  with  persons  selected  from  his  old  department. 
The  intentions  of  the  Commission  were  thus  disappointed: 
instead  of  a  Health  Department  and  a  Poor-Law  Depart- 
ment responsible  to  a  single  political  head,  the  President  of 
the  Local  Government  Board,  there  was  in  fact  a  Poor-Law 
Administration  charged  with  the  supervision  of  the  entire 
mass  of  sanitary  legislation. 

This  substantial  suppression  of  a  distinct  Public  Health 
Office  was  made  possible  by  the  administra-  A  calamitous 
tive  confusion  that  followed  the  discontinuance  a^stake 
of  the  first  Board  of  Health.    There  was  no  group  of  per- 


402  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

manent  officials  sufficiently  organized  to  resist  this  disastrous 
intrusion  of  purely  personal  questions  into  the  large  prob- 
lems of  administrative  organization.  The  medical  staff  that 
had  gradually  grown  up  in  the  purlieus  of  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment was  not  associated  with  the  new  department  in  any 
permanent  or  helpful  way.  Although  the  administration  of 
the  office  required  expert  medical  assistance  of  the  highest 
quality,  no  appointments  were  made  from  the  medical  fra- 
ternity, and  existing  officials  were  given  the  most  limited 
opportunities  of  making  themselves  useful.  The  same  dis- 
regard of  professional  medical  assistance  characterized  the 
appointments  of  the  local  authorities,  whose  action  was,  in 
large  measure,  a  reflection  of  the  influence  of  the  central 
office.  The  administration  of  public  health  legislation  thus 
fell  into  the  hands  of  a  group  of  poor-law  officials  most  of 
whom  were  without  medical  training. 

The  laws  relating  to  public  health  were  revised  and  codi- 
fied by  the  Statute  of  1875;  so  all  the  external  appearance  of 
final  achievement  was  given  to  the  legislation  of 

Codification 

the  period.  The  details  of  correlation  between 
central  and  local  authorities  had  been  worked  out,  and  the 
development  of  grants  from  the  revenues  of  the  Central  Gov- 
ernment in  aid  of  local  rates  had  removed  the  chief  com- 
plaint of  local  interests.  They  could  no  longer  plead  in  ex- 
tenuation of  their  conduct  an  inability  to  provide  financially 
for  the  schemes  of  improvement  imposed  upon  them  by  the 
central  health  authorities.  These  were,  indeed,  substantial  ac- 
complishments, but  it  is  none  the  less  important  to  recognize 
that  opportunities  were  lost  of  creating  an  administrative 
jurisdiction  that  would  have  been  better  able  to  accom- 
plish the  primary  ends  of  social  improvements  in  these  direc- 
tions. The  high  death-rates  that  shocked  the  early  investi- 
gators are  still  to  be  found  in  many  districts,  and  it  is  still 
common  to  find  portions  of  cities  with  annual  death-rates  of 
over  thirty-five  per  thousand,  as  compared  with  a  general 
death-rate  of  nineteen  or  twenty  per  thousand  for  England 
and  Wales. 
One  cannot  feel  that  the  legislation  of  the  years  1871-75 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE       403 

was  in  any  adequate  sense  a  fulfillment  of  the  preparatory 
work  of  reform  that  had  been  accomplished  with  distinction 
under  the  direction  of  Chadwick  in  the  forties  and  under  the 
leadership  of  the  most  public-spirited  members  of  the  medi- 
cal fraternity  in  the  years  following  the  retirement  of  Chad- 
wick  from  office.  The  progress  hi  combating  preventable 
disease  has  been  slower  than  might  have  been  anticipated. 
The  shortcomings  of  the  work  of  1871  were  peculiarly  un- 
fortunate because  the  departmental  organization  became 
sufficiently  fixed  at  that  time  to  render  further  reform  espe- 
cially difficult.  There  has  been  in  recent  years  considerable 
agitation  for  a  Public  Health  Office,  and,  with  the  begin- 
nings of  a  general  reconstruction  of  the  Cabinet  following 
the  armistice  of  November  11,  1918,  this  has  been  one  of 
the  first  reforms  to  be  enacted  into  law.  The  Ministry  of 
Health  Act  of  1919  provides  for  the  appointment  of  a  min- 
ister and  the  transfer  to  him  of  most  of  the  functions  of  the 
President  of  the  Local  Government  Board.  It  will  be  his 
duty  "to  take  all  steps  that  may  be  desk-able  to  secure 
the  effective  carrying  out  and  coordination  of  measures  con- 
ducive to  the  health  of  the  people,"  including  the  prevention 
and  cure  of  disease,  the  collection  and  preparation  of  infor- 
mation and  statistics,  and  the  training  of  persons  engaged  in 
health  service.  It  is  now  believed  that  this  minister  will  have 
authority  over  the  administration  of  the  poor  laws,  and  some 
concern  is  felt  in  many  circles  lest  the  old  system  be  entirely 
supplanted  and  transformed.  It  is  possible,  however,  that 
subsequent  legislation  will  make  definite  provision  for  the 
care  of  the  poor. 

III.  HOUSING 

The  health  of  the  population  is  no  less  intimately  depend- 
ent on  the  general  condition  of  its  house  accommodations 
than  upon  the  general  sanitary  arrangements  for  the  care  of 
streets  and  the  disposal  of  waste.  The  explanation  of  the 
persistence  of  high  death-rates  in  urban  districts  is  to  be 
found  in  the  multiplicity  of  possible  causes  of  premature 
death.  A  satisfactory  state  of  public  health  can  hardly  be 
secured  until  all  preventable  menace  to  life  is  removed.  The 


404  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

housing  problem  is  doubly  difficult  because  it  has  increased 
in  complexity  with  the  progress  of  the  urban  movement,  and 
the  general  tendency  toward  greater  concentration  has  cre- 
ated untoward  conditions  of  congestion  more  rapidly  than 
the  legislative  and  administrative  reforms  could  suppress  the 
old  evils. 

Attention  was  first  drawn  to  this  aspect  of  social  reform 
by  SJiaftesbury  (then  Lord  Ashley)  hi  1851,  and  it  was  his 
The  Ton-ens  unique  experience  to  superintend  the  passage  of 
Act  the  bill  through  both  Houses  of  Parliament,  as 

his  succession  to  the  earldom  took  place  in  the  interval  be- 
tween the  adoption  of  the  bill  in  the  Commons  and  its  presen- 
tation hi  the  Lords.  The  act  was  permissive  only,  enabling 
local  authorities  to  erect  model  cottages  or  tenements.  The 
first  considerable  attempt  to  grapple  with  the  problem  came 
in  1867-68,  when  the  Torrens  Bill  was  introduced.  This 
was  directed  against  individual  buildings  that  were  unfit  for 
human  habitation.  The  bill  contained  provision  for  the 
condemnation  of  buildings  upon  reports  by  the  medical  offi- 
cer of  the  locality  and  by  engineers.  The  local  authority 
was  then  under  obligation  to  recommend  suitable  repairs  if 
there  was  any  possibility  of  putting  the  building  into  shape. 
If  this  were  impossible,  or  if  the  owner  failed  to  execute  the 
repairs  within  a  specified  time,  an  order  for  the  demolition  of 
the  building  could  be  issued.  Provision  was  made  also  for 
the  erection  of  a  suitable  building  to  replace  the  condemned 
structure,  but  this  clause  failed  to  pass,  and  no  such  powers 
were  conferred  upon  the  local  authorities  until  1879.  Proce- 
dure under  the  Torrens  Act  (Artisans  and  Laborers  Dwellings 
Act,  1868)  was  complex  and  many  of  the  legal  provisions 
were  obscure.  The  act  consequently  failed  to  accomplish 
all  that  had  been  anticipated. 

It  should  be  observed  that  the  machinery  of  this  act,  as  of 
other  housing  acts,  was  to  be  set  in  motion  primarily  by  the 
reports  of  the  medical  officers  of  the  various  local  areas,  so 
that  the  inadequacy  of  the  medical  inspection  provided  by 
the  Local  Government  Act  of  1871  was  responsible  in  part 
for  the  small  number  of  condemnations  of  buildings.  Medi- 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      405 

cal  officers  engaged  in  private  practice,  holding  a  public  posi- 
tion at  the  pleasure  of  a  local  authority,  were  not  free  to  exert 
themselves  on  behalf  of  the  public  in  ways  which  might  con- 
flict with  the  private  interests  of  their  patients  and  employ- 
ers. Much  good  was  accomplished  under  the  statute,  but  it 
did  not  become  the  basis  of  systematic  reforms  hi  all  urban 
districts  as  had  been  hoped. 

The  Act  of  1875,  introduced  at  the  instance  of  Mr.  R.  A. 
Cross,  endeavored  to  deal  with  the  other  serious  aspect  of 
urban  housing:  the  congested  area,  rendered  congested 
unfit  for  habitation,  not  by  overt  structural  de-  areas 
fects  of  particular  houses,  but  by  the  arrangement  of  the 
streets  and  houses  in  the  entire  district.  Narrow  streets, 
courts,  longer  passages  that  were  prevented  from  becoming  a 
thoroughfare  by  the  closing  of  one  end  by  perhaps  no  more 
than  a  single  house,  —  all  these  slum  conditions  would  re- 
main a  serious  menace  even  if  the  individual  buildings 
should  pass  inspection.  Under  this  act  certain  portions  of 
London  were  remodeled.  Streets  were  widened  and  addi- 
tional entrances  were  provided  for  inner  blocks. 

Since  the  passage  of  this  act  no  fundamentally  new  princi- 
ple has  been  incorporated  in  housing  legislation,  unless  one 
were  to  interpret  in  such  light  the  provisions  for  the  prepara- 
tion of  systematic  plans  for  the  development  of  urban  areas 
on  which  no  buildings  at  all  had  been  erected  at  the  tune  of 
the  preparation  of  the  plan.  The  numerous  enactments 
since  1875  have  been  predominantly  legal  and  administra- 
tive: several  amending  acts,  1879, 1880/1882,  and  1885;  com- 
prehensive amendment  and  codification  hi  1890;  and  further 
amending  acts  in  1900,  1909,  and  1912.  These  Recent 
acts  have  been  directed  toward  the  simplifica-  statutes 
tion  of  procedure  and  have  made  the  obligations  of  the  local 
authorities  imperative  in  many  instances  in  which  they  were 
formerly  permissive.  But  despite  the  intentions  of  the  cen- 
tral authorities,  various  interests  are  sufficiently  powerful  to 
prevent  the  granting  of  vital  powers.  It  was  suggested,  for 
instance,  that  a  clause  be  included  hi  the  Town  Planning  Act 
of  1909  providing  that  once  hi  five  years  a  complete  survey 


406  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

should  be  made,  under  the  direction  of  Borough  or  County 
Councils,  of  all  houses  below  a  certain  assessed  value.  Such 
comprehensive  surveys  are  an  essential  basis  for  any  en- 
tirely adequate  reform,  but  the  clause  was  rejected  and  in 
scarcely  any  districts  have  such  surveys  been  made.  The 
attitude  of  the  Central  Government  is  indicated  by  the  re- 
port of  the  Land  Inquiry  Committee  appointed  by  Mr. 
Lloyd  George,  when  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  1912. 

Laws  embodying  a  consistent  policy  have  been  placed  on 
the  statute  book;  sometimes  by  one  party,  sometimes  by  the 
obstacles  other.  The  issue  has  never  been  a  party  ques- 
to  reform  ^on  Curiously  enough  there  is  abundant  con- 
sciousness on  the  part  of  members  of  Parliament  that  the 
statutes  are  not  effectively  administered,  and  there  has  been 
not  a  little  tendency  to  put  the  blame  on  the  landlords. 
Much  responsibility  should  rest  on  their  shoulders,  for  the 
local  authorities  have  represented  propertied  interests  and 
have  constituted  a  last  bulwark  of  aristocratic  privilege. 
There  has  been  little  opposition  to  the  writing  of  these  laws 
into  the  statute  book,  because  many  of  those  interested 
knew  that  large  reforms  could  be  thwarted,  just  as  they 
knew  that  small  reforms  were  politically  expedient.  This 
legislation  thus  constitutes  a  part  of  that  opposition  between 
class  interests  of  which  Parliament  is  gradually  becoming 
the  theater  of  conflict. 

The  present  housing  crisis  is  partly  due  to  these  essen- 
tially restrictive  laws,  and  partly  due  to  the  influence  of  the 
methods  of  assessing  real  estate.  Provision  for  the  condem- 
nation of  buildings  and  definition  of  building  standards 
gradually  reduced  the  rate  of  new  building.  Land  costs  re- 
mained high  because  it  was  easy  to  hold  land  for  speculative 
increases  in  value  as  long  as  unimproved  land  was  assessed 
at  purely  nominal  figures.  It  has  thus  come  about  that 
Dearth  of  there  is  an  actual  dearth  of  housing  accommoda- 
houses  ^.jon  throughout  the  greater  part  of  the  United 

Kingdom.  Knowledge  of  the  fact  does  not  allay  the  class 
feeling  that  was  already  sufficiently  well  defined.  Together 
with  the  land  question  with  which  it  is  inextricably  associ- 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      407 

ated,  this  housing  question  is  one  of  the  most  serious  issues 
between  Conservatives,  Radicals,  and  Socialists.  The  ac- 
tual dearth  of  accommodation  gives  color  to  the  assertion 
that  private  initiative  has  failed,  so  that  public  endeavor  is  a 
necessity.  The  criticisms  of  the  Socialists  and  Radicals  are 
undoubtedly  sound  in  most  of  their  details,  and  yet  one  is 
inclined  to  doubt  the  necessity  of  the  conclusion  that  "pri- 
vate initiative"  has  failed.  However,  it  is  difficult  to  form 
opinions  about  such  matters  at  a  distance  from  the  localities 
concerned,  and  it  is  entirely  possible  that  there  is  no  signifi- 
cant hope  of  enlisting  the  activities  of  a  group  of  private 
capitalists  other  than  that  which  has  in  fact  failed  to  meet  an 
urgent  public  need. 

IV.  FACTORY  LEGISLATION 

Regulations  of  conditions  of  employment  hi  factories  fall 
into  three  groups:  regulations  designed  to  protect  women 
and  children;  regulations  designed  to  assure  rea-  Principles  of 
sonable  safety,  with  reference  to  machinery  and  Nfrtoiw 
especially  with  reference  to  certain  occupational  dangers  in 
what  are  classed  as  "dangerous  trades";  regulations  of  hours 
of  employment  and  other  conditions  for  adult  men.  Direct 
regulations  of  this  third  class  have  been  avoided  hi  English 
legislation,  as  in  this  country,  though  there  is  no  possible 
doubt  of  the  competence  of  Parliament  to  make  such  regula- 
tions. It  was  hoped  that  the  famous  Ten  Hours  Act  of  1847 
would  in  fact  constitute  a  regulation  of  the  hours  for  adult 
men  as  well  as  for  women  and  children,  but  means  were 
found  of  maintaining  the  hours  of  the  men,  and  the  act  was 
for  a  while  practically  nullified  with  reference  to  the  pro- 
tected classes  for  whose  benefit  it  was  designed.  In  1850  the 
definition  of  the  limits  of  the  legal  working  day  actually  re- 
sulted in  a  restriction  of  the  hours  worked  by  adult  men,  and 
there  can  be  no  question  of  the  intention  of  the  framers  of 
the  act  to  accomplish  that  end.  But  Parliament  has  not 
been  willing  to  legislate  specifically  for  men  except  with  refer- 
ence to  "dangerous  trades ";  there  is  a  feeling  that  the  princi- 
ple of  individualism  should  HA  ]^p.int.fl.inpHr  in  form  if  not  m 


408  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

fact.  This  disposition  is  due  in  part  to  the  desire  to  find  the 
essential  legal  basis  of  these  curtailments  of  individual  free- 
dom in  the  doctrine  of  the  police  power,  and  to  the  intention 
of  keeping  the  laws  within  the  most  certain  aspects  of  that 
authority  of  the  State.  The  Factory  Code  of  to-day  thus 
concerns  itself  with  women,  "young  persons,"  and  specific 
occupational  dangers.  This  legislation  has  been  consciously 
founded  on  the  police  power  from  the  outset,  and  though  its 
development  has  at  tunes  been  slow  it  has  progressed  on  the 
whole  as  rapidly  as  conditions  of  administrative  control  and 
knowledge  of  evils  made  legislation  practical. 

At  the  outset,  some  trace  of  laissez-faire  doctrine  may  be 
seen  hi  the  disposition  to  limit  administrative  interference  to 
Laissez  faire  *ke  Pro^ec*e(i  classes,  but  the  validity  of  the 
non-interference  theory  was  quickly  disposed  of 
in  the  debates  of  the  forties,  and  in  the  general  history  of 
factory  legislation  the  argument  from  laissez-faire  principles 
was  not  important.  The  question  of  principle  was  well  ar- 
gued by  Lord  Howick  hi  the  debates  on  the  Factory  Act  of 
1844: 

I  contend  [he  says]  that  you  altogether  misapply  the  maxim  of 
leaving  industry  to  itself  when  you  use  it  as  an  argument  against 
regulations  of  which  the  object  is,  not  to  increase  the  productive 
power  of  the  country,  or  to  take  the  fruits  of  a  man's  labor  and 
give  it  to  another,  but,  on  the  contrary,  to  guard  the  laborer 
against  himself,  and  the  community  from  evils  against  which  the 
mere  pursuit  of  wealth  affords  us  no  security.  .  .  .  There  is  an 
important  distinction  which  has  not  been  sufficiently  adverted  to 
in  these  debates,  between  restrictions  imposed  upon  industry  with 
the  visionary  hope  of  increasing  the  nation's  wealth,  or  with  the 
unjust  design  of  taxing  one  class  for  the  benefit  of  another,  and 
those  of  which  the  aim  is  to  guard  against  evils,  moral  or  physical, 
which  it  is  apprehended  that  the  absence  of  such  precautions  might 
entail  upon  the  people.1 

In  suggesting  that  the  principle  of  regulation  of  industry 

according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  police  power  was  adopted  at 

an  early  date,  it  is  not  designed  to  minimize  the  importance 

of  the  ten  hours  movement  nor  to  give  an  impression  that 

1  Cited  in  Hutchins  and  Harrison:  History  of  Factory  Legislation,  93. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   409 

there  were  no  obstacles  to  be  overcome.  It  does  seem  desir- 
able, however,  to  point  out  that  all  estimates  of  the  relation 
of  legislation  to  the  difficulties  created  by  social  Legislation 
change  require  that  there  should  be  some  corre-  ^d  *«  De- 
lation maintained  between  the  progress  of  the 
new  problem  on  the  one  hand  and  the  progress  of  legislation 
on  the  other  hand.  In  the  history  of  factory  legislation  this 
correlation  has  not  been  carefully  worked  out,  and  there  are 
many  difficulties  in  tracing  the  actual  progress  of  the  factory 
movement.  Regulation  of  industry  in  the  homes  of  workers 
was  very  nearly  if  not  entirely  impractical,  so  that  the  pre- 
cise dating  of  the  progress  toward  the  factory  system  be- 
comes a  crucial  matter  in  the  judgment  of  the  growth  of  the 
Factory  Code.  It  would  seem  that  the  extent  and  character 
of  the  early  factory  movement  has  been  frequently  mis- 
judged by  the  writers  that  are  most  severe  in  their  strictures 
upon  the  slow  development  of  factory  legislation.  Judg- 
ment of  the  ten  hours  movement  involves  a  somewhat  differ- 
ent issue.  It  is  not  clear  that  the  leaders  in  Hours 
Parliament  were  swayed  by  personal  interests  in  for  work 
the  matter.  While  there  were  members  who  held  intense  con- 
victions on  both  sides  of  the  question,  the  leaders  and  appar- 
ently a  majority  of  the  House  regarded  it  as  a  matter  which 
could  not  be  proved  either  way.  Contemporary  judgment 
of  a  positive  character  was  based  on  sentiment  or  self-inter- 
est; many  stood  aside.  The  ultimate  passage  of  the  Ten 
Hours  Act  illustrates  the  susceptibility  of  Parliament  to  any 


persistent  pressure.  _ For  the  most  M»I  ^.A.*** ±±a,±i±^vn±&Miu#u>u*»i 

obstacle  by  reason  of  its  principles,  but  by  reason  of  its  iner- 


tia.  The  achievement  of  this  particular  reform  was  particu- 
larly difficult  because  the  case  could  not  be  presented  with 
much  appeal  to  persons  who  were  inclined  to  yield  only  to 
arguments  which  seemed  to  be  certain  and  definite.  The 
situation  was  comparable  with  the  present  issue  of  the  eight- 
hour  day.  Despite  the  possibilities  afforded  by  studies  of 
industrial  fatigue,  according  to  a  technique  that  is  now  well 
understood,  we  do  not  now  know  what  limits  of  working 
hours  are  really  desirable.  Many  are  inclined  to  suspect  the 


Early  acts 


; 


410  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sincerity  of  the  demand  for  "short"  hours,  and  it  is  not  yet 
possible  to  define  the  limits  that  would  secure  maximum 
efficiency. 

The  early  Factory  Acts,  including  under  the  phrase  all  acts 
passed  prior  to  1833,  were  designed  to  remedy  the  flagrant 
evils  that  were  the  outcome  of  jthe  peculiar  de- 
pendence of  the  early  factories  upon  child  labor/. 
There  was  no  clear  evidence  of  any  consciousness  of  a  general 
obligation  to  care  for  the  public  health,  but  merely  a  recog- 
nition of  certain  special  obligations.    The  condition  of  pau- 
per apprentices  made  obvious  claims  upon  the  attention  of 
Parliament,  for  these  pauper  children  were  really  wards  of  ,    , 
the  State.    The  Act  of  1802,  which  bore  the  title,  "  Health 
and  Morals  of  Apprentices  Act/'  is  therefore  a  regulation  of  " 
factory  conditions  in  a  somewhat  incidental  manner.    It  is-J  L I 
not  an  act  that  called  in  question  the  police  power  in  the  2 
sense  that  became  important  with  reference  to  the  general 
factory  legislation,  and  it  can  hardly  be  considered  to  be 
the  beginning  of  the  Factory  Code.     Its  provisions  could 

not  be  applied  to  what  were  called  free  children,  chiiskenJ;  , , 

±  *  ...•-.' 

sent  in  for  the  day  by  their  jaarents.  For  the  apprentices  jj 
working~"Kours  were  restricted  to  twelve  per  day.  Night 
work  was  gradually  to  be  discontinued,  and  to  cease  entirely 
by  June,  1804.  All  apprentices  were  to  be  instructed  in 
reading,  writing,  and  arithmetic,  and  each  child  was  to  re- 
ceive one  suit  of  clothes  per  year.  Factories  should  be  white- 
washed periodically,  and  should  be  properly  ventilated. 
Separate  sleeping-apartments  were  to  be  provided  for  the 
two  sexes. 

Dependence  upon  pauper  labor  became  inconsiderable  in 
the  course  of  the  decade  following  the  Act  of  1802,  and  with 
reference  to  children  as  a  class  most  of  the  older  evils  were 
increasingly  conspicuous.  The  investigation  of  the  condi- 
tions of  child  labor  in  factories  (1816)  marks  the  true  begin- 
ning of  a  conscious  responsibility  on  the  part  of 

Act  Of  lOig  °  . 

the  State  for  those  of  its  subjects  who  were  un- 
able to  protect  their  own  interests.   The  Act  of  1819,  which 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      411 

was  the  result  of  the  investigation,  was  less  drastic  than 
the  bill  originally  introduced,  but  the  essential  principle  was 
written  into  the  statutes.  The  act  applied  to  cotton  mills 
only.  Children  under  nine  years  were  not  to  be  employed 
at  all,  and  those  under  sixteen  were  restricted  to  twelve 
working  hours.  The  allowance  of  an  hour  and  a  half  for 
meals  limited  the  gross  tune  of  attendance  at  the  factory  to 
thirteen  and  one  half  hours.  The  administration  of  the  act 
was  entrusted  to  the  justices  of  the  peace  who  were  pre- 
sumed to  appoint  certain  of  then*  number  to  be  inspectors. 
The  administrative  details  designed  to  give  effect  to  these 
provisions  were  somewhat  amended  in  1825,  1829,  and  in 
1831,  but  the  actual  content  of  the  acts  was  not  significantly 
changed. 

The  need  of  more  comprehensive  handling  of  the  new  prob- 
lems was  brought  to  the  attention  of  Parliament  by  the  in- 
troduction of  a  bill  by  M.  T.  Sadler  in  1831.  The  manufac- 
turers urged  the  appointment  of  a  Select  Committee  of  the 
House  of  Commons,  hoping  to  secure  recommendations  that 
were  more  acceptable  to  them  than  the  provisions  of  Sad- 
ler's measure.  The  results  of  the  hearings  in  London  were 
a  disappointment  to  them,  however,  and  they  moved  for  a 
Royal  Commission  of  investigation  clothed  with  authority 
to  proceed  to  the  factory  districts  and  study  the  problem  on 
the  ground.  The  reformers  and  the  operatives  distrusted 
this  committee  at  first,  feeling  that  its  composition  had  been 
unduly  influenced  by  the  manufacturers,  but  the  presence  of 
Edwin  Chadwick  on  the  committee  was  a  guarantee  that  the 
interests  of  the  public  would  receive  adequate  attention. 
The  report  of  the  committee  insisted  upon  the  need  of  re- 
form, though  the  details  of  the  recommendations  were  not 
identical  with  those  of  the  earlier  proposals. 

The  Act  of  1833,  which  followed,  marks  the  beginning  of  a 
new  phase  hi  factory  legislation.    The  great  departure  lay  in 
the  provision  for  more  efficient  administration  me  Act 
of  the  laws.     The  supervision  of  factories  was  of  l833 
put  in  the  hands  of  itinerant  inspectors,  responsible  to  the 
Home  Office.    Their  powers  were  coordinate  with  those  of 


412  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  justices  of  the  peace,  who  were  unfortunately  allowed  to 
exercise  a  joint  control  over  factory  conditions  which  for  a 
time  nullified  the  efforts  of  the  inspectors.  The  appointment 
of  the  inspectors,  however,  was  of  the  greatest  importance, 
for  their  systematic  tours  of  inspection  afforded  means  of  se- 
curing information  of  the  greatest  value  in  the  elaboration  of 
the  Factory  Code. 

The  regulations  formerly  applied  to  persons  under  sixteen 
were  applied  in  the  act  to  all  under  eighteen.  Employment 
of  children  under  nine  years  was  prohibited  except  in  silk 
mills,  and  between  the  ages  of  nine  and  thirteen  only  half- 
time  was  allowed.  The  age  limits  of  young  persons  and 
children  thus  assumed  permanent  form.  The  working  hours 
of  young  persons  were  limited  to  twelve,  and  it  was  subse-' 
quently  admitted  by  Sir  James  Graham  in  1844  that  the 
Government  presumed  that  these  limitations  would  in  fact 
apply  to  all  operatives,  men  as  well  as  women.  The  failure 
of  the  act  to  achieve  this  end  was  due  to  the  omission  of 
sufficient  restrictions  to  prevent  the  employment  of  pro- 
tected; persons  under  complex  and  evasive  relay  systems, 
which  complied  literally  with  the  statute,  though  they  were 
wholly  contrary  to  its  intent. 

These  difficulties  were  met  by  the  Act  of  1844.  The 
twelve-hour  day  prescribed  for  protected  persons  was  to  be 
The  work-  deemed  to  begin  as  soon  as  any  protected  person 
ing  day  began  work.  Hours  of  work  and  meal  hours 

were  to  be  regulated  by  some  public  clock.  The  act  further 
provided  for  the  inclusion  of  all  women  in  the  class  of  pro- 
tected persons,  and  hence  subject  to  the  same  regulations  as 
young  persons  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  eighteen. 
For  the  first  time  also  regulations  were  made  to  insure  the 
safety  of  operatives.  The  employment  of  young  persons  to 
clean  and  oil  machinery  while  in  motion  was  prohibited,  and 
it  was  required  that  the  more  dangerous  types  of  machines 
should  be  encased  in  protective  coverings.  Interference  by 
the  magistrates  with  the  work  of  the  factory  inspectors  was 
brought  to  an  end  by  the  withdrawal  of  all  their  powers.  The 
hands  of  the  inspectors  were  strengthened  in  a  number  of 
respects. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   413 

The  hours  of  work  for  protected  persons  were  limited  to 
ten  hours  by  the  Act  of  1847,  and  its  effective  application 
was  secured  in  1850  by  the  restriction  of  the  time  of  employ- 
ment to  the  period  between  6  A.M.  and  6  P.M.  With  this  ad- 
dition the  chief  outlines  of  the  Factory  Code  assumed  per- 
manent form.  The  accomplishments  of  the  next  generation 
lay  in  the  regulation  of  dangerous  trades  and  in  the  extension 
of  the  system  of  regulation  to  factories  in  all  branches  of 
industry. 

It  would  be  interesting  to  correlate  the  extension  of  the 
Factory  Acts  in  1867  and  1878  with  the  medical  knowledge 
of  occupational  diseases  on  the  one  hand,  and  Extension 
with  the  spread  of  the  factory  system  on  the  ^P"^?168 
other  hand.  It  is  the  impression  of  the  writer  that  the  rapid- 
ity of  the  development  of  the  factory  system  is  frequently 
exaggerated,  but  without  specific  studies  of  the  various  in- 
dustries no  conclusions  can  safely  be  drawn.  The  terminol- 
ogy of  the  period  is  terribly  confused.  The  word  "factory" 
is  used  ordinarily  in  a  much  more  restricted  meaning  than  is 
now  common  among  economists.  The  statutes  adopt  formal 
definitions  based  upon  the  use  of  power,  or  upon  the  number 
of  operatives.  Popular  usage  at  that  time  seems  to  have 
reflected  these  definitions. 

In  the  hosiery  and  lace  trades  the  term  "warehouse"  was 
used  to  designate  an  establishment  that  seems  to  be  a  factory 
in  all  essential  respects.  Power  was  introduced  in  hosiery- 
making  in  1846,  and,  in  1852,  3800  steam-worked  frames 
were  known  to  be  in  use.  To  what  extent  the  essential  fea- 
tures of  a  factory  system  appeared  in  the  industry  prior  to  the 
use  of  power,  we  are  not  now  in  a  position  to  state.  In  some 
trades,  notably  in  calico  printing,  the  establishment  of  the 
factory  system  must  have  preceded  significant  regulation  by 
a  considerable  interval.  It  is  thus  unlikely  that  any  single 
generalization  would  apply  to  all  the  industries  that  were 
brought  within  the  view  of  the  factory  inspectors  by  the  acts 
of  the  period  1867-78.  However,  it  seems  likely  that  small 
workshops  were  common  if  not  predominant  in  a  large  part 
of  the  industrial  field  even  then,  and  one  may  perhaps  infer 


414  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

that  such  shops  had  given  place  to  factories  in  other  portions 
of  the  field  within  a  decade  or  two.  The  fact  that  we  learn 
more  about  the  factories  that  existed  hi  the  earlier  period 
may  close  our  eyes  to  the  existence  of  other  forms  of  indus- 
trial organization.  The  factory  made  its  way  slowly  in  the 
textile  trades  hi  which  it  was  first  introduced,  so  that  it  does 
not  seem  unwarrantable  to  wonder  how  rapidly  it  gained  a 
hold  upon  the  other  branches  of  industry. 

The  most  significant  feature  of  the  policy  underlying  the 
extension  of  the  field  of  regulation  was  the  inclusion  of 
"workshops"  in  the  Act  of  1867.  This  admirable  proposal 
made  an  end  of  the  essentially  artificial  position  adopted  by 
the  earlier  legislation,  by  which  the  application  of  State 
regulation  was  made  to  depend  wholly  upon  the  form  of  or- 
Defects  of  the  ganization.  It  is,  however,  unfortunate  that  no 
inspectors'  provision  was  made  for  the  classification  of  the 
statistics  collected  by  the  inspectors.  The 
classifications  used  follow  the  requirements  of  the  statutes 
without  any  reference  to  the  statistical  and  economic  ques- 
tions that  might  be  answered  by  careful  analysis  of  the  fig- 
ures. We  are  unable  to  use  what  would  otherwise  be  the 
most  important  source  of  information  on  the  subject.  None 
of  the  returns  distinguish  between  women  over  eighteen 
years  old  and  those  between  the  ages  of  thirteen  and  eight- 
een. The  early  returns  of  the  total  numbers  of  persons  in 
factories  are  unrepresentative  because  the  inspectors  had  no 
jurisdiction  over  some  industries  in  which  factories  existed. 
The  later  returns  of  totals  are  unrepresentative  because  they 
include  many  persons  who  were  employed  in  workshops. 
The  transition  from  the  workshop  to  the  factory  in  the  gen- 
eral industrial  field  is  thus  obscured  hi  this  important  mass 
of  statistical  information.  By  1871  the  factory  inspectors 
were  reporting  nearly  the  entire  industrial  population,  but 
that  fact  should  not  lead  one  to  suppose  that  all  the  persons 
enumerated  were  actually  employed  in  "factories,"  the 
heading  of  the  return  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

The  regulation  of  dangerous  trades  was  begun  by  the  Act 
of  1864.  The  statute  was  directed  against  the  pottery  and 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   415 

match  trades,  which  used  white  lead  and  phosphorus,  and 
also  against  various  trades  in  which  grinding  and  Dangerous 
polishing  developed  dust  which  caused  serious  ti&des 
lung  troubles.  The  provisions  were  too  general  to  secure 
significant  results,  but  the  .technique  of  this  legislation  was 
further  developed  hi  the  Acts  of  1878  and  1883.  The  in- 
troduction of  fans  to  remove  dust,  special  regulations  with 
reference  to  meals,  and  added  facilities  for  personal  clean- 
liness indicated  the  principal  remedies  that  can  be  taken. 
There  has  been  a  constant  increase  in  the  effectiveness  of  the 
regulation  of  these  dangerous  trades.  The  humidity  of  cot- 
ton factories  was  regulated  by  the  Act  of  1889,  and  in  1898 
attention  was  given  to  india-rubber  works,  wool  sorting, 
lead  works,  and  other  trades  presenting  serious  occupa- 
tional risks.  The  list  of  trades  certified  as  dangerous  is  now 
too  long  to  be  given  in  full,  and  at  present  it  is  within  the 
power  of  the  Secretary  of  State  at  the  Home  Office  to  issue 
an  order  certifying  particular  trades  to  be  dangerous.  Par- 
liamentary action  is  thus  no  longer  necessary. 

The  entire  mass  of  factory  legislation  was  amended  and 
consolidated  in  1901,  so  that  it  now  stands  as  a  systematic 
code. 

V.  THE  RELIEF  OF  DESTITUTION 

Provision  for  the  relief  of  destitution  was  part  of  the  com- 
prehensive legislative  schemes  of  the  Elizabethan  period. 
The  conception  of  status  that  appears  so  strik-  The  old 
ingly  in  tne  Statute  o7  Apprentices  placed  a  p°or-law 
definite  obligation  upon  the  State  to  guarantee  its  members 
what  would  to-day  be  called  a  "national  minimum."  Any 
person  who  failed  to  secure  adequate  maintenance  in  the  call- 
ing which  it  was  his  duty  to  pursue  had  the  right  to  receive 
from  the  State  such  assistance  as  was  needed  by  him  or  his 
family.  In  general  it  was  the  intention  of  the  Statute  of  Ap- 
prentices to  secure  this  end  by  the  adjustment  of  wages  to 
the  price  of  food,  but,  if  these  adaptations  failed,  the  individ- 
ual had  a  definite  claim  upon  the  parish  hi  which  he  resided. 
It  was  not  presumed  that  able-bodied  persons  should  remain 


416  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

idle,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  setting  of  the  poor  to 
work.  These  workhouses,  however,  were  in  intent  at  least 
different  from  the  institutions  of  the  nineteenth  century:  the 
modern  workhouse  is  designed  to  be  in  a  measure  a  penalty, 
a  place  of  detention  whose  regulations  are  mildly  unpleasant; 
the  early  workhouses  were  designed  to  afford  an  opportunity 
—  jobs  for  the  jobless. 

These  conceptions  were  further  defined  by  the  legislation 
of  the  Stuart  period,  notably  the  Laws  of  Settlement  and 
Settlement  Removal  of  1662.  The  obligation  of  the  parish 
and  removal  ^o  maintain  its  resident  poor  required  some  defi- 
nition of  conditions  of  obtaining  residence,  as  the  burden  of 
relief  became  in  many  cases  considerable.  The  Laws  of  Set- 
tlement placed  the  primary  obligation  upon  the  parish  in 
which  the  individual  was  born,  unless  he  had  acquired  a  new 
residence  by  uninterrupted  dwelling  in  another  parish  for  a 
year.  The  possibility  of  transferring  burdens  to  another 
parish,  however,  by  shipping  off  persons  on  the  verge  of  des- 
titution, resulted  in  the  grant  of  authority  to  parish  officials 
to  refuse  to  admit  to  their  parish  any  persons  likely  to  be- 
come a  public  charge.  Although  this  provision  was  emi- 
nently reasonable  from  the  standpoint  of  the  parishes,  it  was 
calamitous  to  the  wage-earners.  The  skepticism  of  parish 
authorities  with  reference  to  capacity  to  earn  one's  living 
became  a  serious  obstacle  to  any  movement  of  the  laboring 
population  in  search  of  work.  The  class  of  unskilled  work- 
ers became  immobilized  in  the  parishes  of  their  birtn.  The_ 
fear  that  they  would  become  public  charges  prevented  fhern^ 
irom  seeking  work;  |n  any  largp  area  and  contributed  largel^ 
to  their  ultimate  destitution.  No  aspect  of  parish  adminis- 
tration of  relief  was  more  disastrous  than  this  artificial  inter- 
ference with  the  normal  circulation  of  the  laboring  classes. 

The  last  half  of  the  eighteenth  century  and  the  early  dec- 
ades of  the  nineteenth  witnessed  a  great  increase  in  the 
Growth  of  amount  of  destitution  in  England.  The  causes 
pauperism  of  ^his  progressive  degradation  of  the  wage- 
earning  classes  were  highly  complex.  The  unfortunate  con- 
sequences of  the  Enclosure  Acts  must  undoubtedly  be  ac- 


counted  the  most  important  initial  factor  in  this  untoward 
social  change.  The  agricultural  laborer  was  deprived  of  the 
small  plots  of  ground  used  for  gardening  and  lost  his  rights 
to  the  use  of  the  old  common  pastures  which  were  broken  up 
into  individual  parcels  of  property  and  generally  withdrawn 
from  grazing.  The  laborer  became  entirely  dependent  upon 
his  wages,  and  at  the  customary  rates  these  wages  were 
scarcely  adequate  to  the  entire  needs  of  the  family.  The 
garden  patch,  the  pig,  and  the  cow  had  long  constituted  the 
margin  between  sufficiency  and  insufficiency.  It  must  be 
admitted,  however,  that  the  problem  created  by  the  defec- 
tive aspects  of  enclosure  legislation  was  intensified  by  the  un- 
wise policies  of  poor-relief  adopted  in  many  parishes  and  by 
the  immobility  imposed  upon  the  laboring  population  by  the 
laws  of  settlement. 

Economic  conditions  were  by  no  means  unfavorable  in  all 
the  counties  of  England,  but  under  the  existing  laws  it  was 
impossible  for  the  excess  of  laborers  in  one  immobu- 
county  to  flow  freely  to  another  county  to  take  ities 
advantage  of  the  new  opportunities  presented  there.  There 
was,  of  course,  some  migration  to  the  northern  counties, 
both  from  the  other  portions  of  England  and  from  Ireland, 
but  these  migratory  movements  were  less  considerable  than 
was  desirable  and  were  somewhat  restricted  with  reference 
to  particular  classes  of  the  population.  A  situation  that  was 
serious  in  the  extreme  was  thus  terribly  intensified  by  a  sys- 
tem of  relief  that  pauperized  the  lower  classes  with  extraor- 
dinary rapidity  and  completeness. 

The  wars  of  the  Napoleonic  period  added  to  the  distress. 
There  were  years  of  extreme  depression  hi  agriculture  and 
much  localized  distress  among  the  artisans.  The  close  of  the 
wars  brought  no  immediate  relief.  The  period  from  1815  to 
1819  was  one  of  great  pressure  for  all  classes  of  the  popula- 
tion, and  of  course  the  severity  of  the  hardships  was  most 
palpable  among  the  lowest  classes.  Destitution  increased 
to  portentous  degrees.  Some  extreme  cases  were  discovered 
by  the  Committee  of  1832  which  show  that  at  the  worst  an 
absolute  limit  was  reached.  At  Cholesbury,  Bucks,  the 


418  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

rates  increased  until  the  parish  was  abandoned.  In  1801  the 
rates  were  £10,  11s.,  and  there  was  one  pauper.  In  1816  the 
rates  were  £99,  4s.;  in  1831,  £150,  5s.;  in  1832,  £367.  At 
that  point  the  process  of  collection  came  to  an  end.  Land- 
Abandonment  lords  gave  up  their  rents,  farmers  their  tenan- 
of  a  parish  cjeSj  ^he  clergyman  his  glebe  and  tithes.  The 
propertied  persons  actually  decamped,  leaving  the  parish  to 
the  poor.  The  clergyman,  who  remained,  wrestled  with  the 
problem  as  best  he  could,  securing  temporary  relief  from 
neighboring  parishes.  He  proposed  to  divide  the  land  of  the 
parish  among  the  poor,  and  it  was  his  hope  "that  at  the  ex- 
piration of  two  years,  the  parish  in  the  interval  receiving 
rates  hi  aid,  the  whole  of  the  poor  would  be  able  and  willing 
to  support  themselves."  There  were  wide  variations  in  the 
amount  of  poverty,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  these 
were  among  the  darkest  years  of  English  social  history. 

Some  of  this  distress,  notably  distress  among  the  hand- 
loom  weavers,  is  frequently  associated  with  the  transforma- 
tion of  industry  by  the  mechanical  inventions,  and  comment 
upon  this  theory  has  already  been  made  elsewhere.  In  sug- 
gesting other  explanations  it  is  not  designed  to  exclude  en- 
tirely all  influences  of  general  social  change,  but  it  would 
Bad  states-  seem  that  abundant  explanation  can  be  found 
in  the  lack  of  sound  statesmanship  shown  in  the 


Enclosure  Acts  and  in  the  systems  of  relief  then 
existing.  It  is  highly  repugnant  to  the  writer  to  presume 
that  such  distress  can  be  a  necessary  accompaniment  of  so- 
cial changes.  Some  problems  were  perhaps  too  difficult  to 
be  successfully  handled  at  that  tune,  but  the  worst  of  the 
evils  were  certainly  due  to  causes  within  the  significant  con- 
trol of  British  statesmen.  No  iron  law  of  wages,  no  Mal- 
thusian  principle  of  population,  no  smug  theory  of  necessary 
"pains  of  transition"  can  diminish  the  responsibility  of  Brit- 
ish statesmen  for  the  conditions  that  prevailed.  There  were 
attenuating  circumstances,  no  doubt,  but  the  location  of  the 
general  responsibility  can  hardly  be  questioned.  The  unre- 
formed  Parliament  has  a  great  place  in  history,  but  there 
were  certain  kinds  of  problems  that  it  was  ill-fitted  to  deal 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      419 

with.  The  basis  for  a  great  democratic  legislative  body  was 
afforded  by  its  precedents,  but  the  full  development  of  these 
powers  in  a  truly  democratic  spirit  was  reserved  to  a  later 
age,  in  which  there  was  more  reality  of  democratic  control. 

The  modes  of  relief  prevalent  in  the  period  prior  to  the  re- 
form of  1834  were  numerous.  Each  locality  was  a  law  unto 
itself,  so  that  there  was  no  uniformity.  The  systems 
outstanding  features  of  administration  were  the  of  reUe£ 
workhouse  and  various  systems  of  relief  given  to  persons  who 
lived  in  their  own  homes.  The  workhouse  was  devoted  to 
an  mdiscriminate  housing  of  orphan  children,  invalids,  and 
old  persons.  The  administration  of  the  workhouses  left 
much  to  be  desired,  but  the  chief  pauperizing  elements  in  re- 
lief administration  lay  in  the  so-called  "  out-relief "  given  to 
persons  living  in  their  own  homes.  Applicants  for  relief 
were  sometimes  freed  wholly  or  in  part  from  the  expense  of 
obtaining  house  or  room.  Large  amounts  of  money  were 
also  disbursed  directly  to  the  paupers.  Doles  were  given  at 
times  without  imposing  any  obligations  to  work  upon  the 
applicant:  in  some  cases  the  applicant  was  desired  to  shift 
for  himself  without  bothering  the  parish  authorities;  in  other 
eases  the  recipient  was  required  to  attend  roll-call  several 
times  during  the  day,  or  to  remain  unmistakably  idle  hi  a  des- 
ignated spot.  By  the  allowance  system  the  applicant  for 
relief  was  employed  at  the  rates  of  wages  current  in  the  dis- 
trict and  then  given  such  additional  sum  of  money  as  might 
be  needed  to  bring  his  total  income  up  to  a  given  standard. 
Under  the  roundsman  system  the  parish  undertook  responsi- 
bility for  the  maintenance  of  the  laborers,  but  it  was  pre- 
sumed that  the  parish  therefore  acquired  right  to  their  time 
and  effort.  The  pauper  labor  was  sold  at  auction  to  the 
farmers  of  the  neighborhood,  and  the  parish  made  up  the 
difference  between  the  price  offered  and  a  living  wage.  The 
form  of  a  wage  payment  was  thus  preserved.  Other  sys- 
tems were  to  be  found  hi  some  places,  but  they  cannot  be 
distinguished  from  the  systems  described  unless  all  the 
details  are  given. 

By  astute  use  of  these  systems  landlords  were  able  to  make 


420  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  parish  responsible  for  the  rents  of  their  houses,  farmers 
Demoraiiza-  were  a^e  to  make  their  neighbors  contribute  to 
tion  of  the  the  wages  of  their  laborers,  and  dwellers  in  some 
parishes  were  able  to  shift  to  other  shoulders 
the  burden  of  maintaining  a  supply  of  cheap  labor.  It  is 
scarcely  possible  to  imagine  the  effect  of  the  system  upon  the 
poor.  All  sense  of  responsibility  for  self-maintenance  was 
lost,  and  the  sentiment  that  might  be  presumed  to  exist 
among  members  of  the  same  family  gave  way  to  a  rapacious 
desire  to  utilize  the  claims  of  parents  and  children  as  a  means 
of  extorting  more  money  from  the  ''Guardians"  of  the  poor. 

The  evils  of  the  old  systems  were  thoroughly  studied  by 
the  Commission  of  1832;  significant  proposals  for  reform 
were  submitted  to  Parliament,  but  it  proved  to  be  impossi- 
ble to  carry  the  entire  reform  scheme  through  both  Houses. 
The  Law  of  1834  embodied  merely  a  fragment  of  the  reform  ' 
actually  recommended  by  the  Commission.  The  proposals 
for  reform  were  largely  the  work  of  Edwin  Chadwick,  who 
chadwick's  was  able  to  bring  his  colleagues  on  the  Commis- 
P1*0  sion  to  his  point  of  view,  though  he  could  not 

convert  Parliament.  He  desired  to  create  new  administra- 
tive areas,  much  larger  than  the  existing  parishes,  and  the 
local  authorities  thus  constituted  were  to  be  subject  to  the 
supervision  and  control  of  a  strong  central  office.  The  Law 
of  Settlement  was  to  be  abolished  or  radically  amended.  JThe  ^ 
principle  of  classification  was  to  be  introduced :  the  destitute  tf-6 
should  be  grouped  in  classes;  children,  the  aged  and  infirm, 
the  sick,  and  the  able-bodied  adults.  Each  class  should  be 
granted  the  type  of  relief  most  appropriate  to  its  needs  in  a 
separate  building.  Relief  of  the  able-bodied  was  to  be  made 
less  eligible  than  self -maintenance  by  means  of  the  labor  test. 
It  was  strongly  urged  that  no  relief  should  be  given  except  in 
a  well-regulated  workhouse,  and  the  conception  of  a  work- 
house was  altered  in  a  number  of  particulars.  There  was  to 
be  sufficient  discipline  to  make  it  something  other  than  a 
poor  man's  club,  and  the  diet  was  to  be  nourishing  without 
being  attractive. 

Of  all  these  ideas  two  only  made  a  real  impression  upon 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE   421 

contemporary  thought.     The  enlargement  of  the  adminis- 
trative area  was  seen  to  be  essential,  and  the  Features 
notion  that  poor-relief  should  be  less  satisfac-  ad°Pted 
tory  than  self-maintenance  was  warmly  espoused.    All  could 
understand  that  the  terrible  curse  of  the  old  Poor~l^wwa^its 
pauperization.    Less  sentiment  and  more  reason  was  recom-" 
mended,  and  it  was  possible  to  spread  the  ideal  of  a  discrimi- 
nating and  somewhat  niggardly  charity.     There  was  sound 
sense  in  these  recommendations,  but  the  high  statesmanship 
lay  in  the  other  features  of  Chadwick's  plan.     Chadwick, 
however,  was  practically  alone  hi  advocating  a  centralized 
and  classified  system  of  relief,  and  despite  his  years  of  service 
with  the  Poor-Law  Board  it  proved  to  be  impossible  to  lift 
the  administration  of  the  Poor-Law  to  a  higher  plane  than 
was  embodied  in  the  idea  of  the  " workhouse"  test.     Some 
slight  progress  was  made  toward  classification,  but  hi  general 
the  evils  of  the  mixed  workhouse  were  tolerated  without 
much  clear  consciousness  that  they  were  evil. 
pThe  appointment  of  the  Royal  Commission  on  the  Poor- 
Law  in  1909^was  an  indication  that  the  tune  had  come  for 
important  reforms,  but  the  sharp  division  of  The  inquiry 
opinion  revealed  by  the  reports  of  the  majority  Ofl9°9 
and  minority  probably  constitutes  an  obstacle  to  thorough- 
going reorganization  of  the  Poor-Law  Administration.    The 
attitude  of  the  Government  to  the  report  leads  one  to  be- 
lieve that  the  appointment  of  the  Commission  was  designed 
rather  to  satisfy  certain  radical  elements  than  to  prepare  the 
way  for  new  legislation  as  is  usual  in  such  cases.    No  general 
legislation  has  been  submitted  to  Parliament  in  connection 
with  the  report.    The  Mental  Deficiency  Act  of  1913  embod- 
ies certain  aspects  of  the  recommendations.     The  Relief 
Regulation  Order  of  1911,  the  Boarding-Out  Order  of  1911, 
and  the  Classification  Order  of  1914  are  admittedly  inspired 
by  the  majority  report.    These  administrative  orders  repre- 
sent the  extent  of  attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to 
give  effect  to  the  results  of  the  inquiry.    The  minority  of  the 
Commission  was  controlled  by  the  Fabians  under  the  leader- 
ship of  Mrs.  Webb.    Their  report,  written  by  her,  is  one  of 


422  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  most  elaborate  of  any  of  the  proposals  for  concrete  re- 
forms that  have  come  from  that  source. 

The  report  of  the  majority  falls  into  two  distinct  divisions: 
recommendations  for  reorganization  of  the  entire  adminis- 
Majority  trative  mechanism  for  relief  of  destitution;  rec- 

recommenda-  ommendations  for  the  application  of  the  aspects 
of  Chadwick's  plan  of  1834  that  were  unaccepta- 
ble at  that  tune.  The  desirability  of  giving  some  out-relief 
is  recognized,  but  careful  supervision  of  such  cases  is  clearly 
necessary  and  the  best  means  of  assuring  discreet  adminis- 
tration of  out-relief  were  sketched.  The  discontinuance  of 
the  mixed  workhouse  was  strongly  urged.  Various  systems 
for  dealing  with  children  were  suggested.  For  the  aged,  the 
mentally  deficient,  and  the  sick  special  institutional  treat- 
ment was  recommended,  and  as  it  would  be  impossible  for 
individual  Poor-Law  Unions  to  provide  proper  facilities,  it 
was  proposed  that  they  should  combine  for  these  purposes. 
In  so  far  as  these  recommendations  can  be  accomplished 
without  changes  in  the  general  administrative  organization 
of  the  present  department  they  have  been  adopted  by  the 
Board.  But  there  is  no  disposition  to  introduce  legislation 
contemplating  the  administrative  reorganization  that  is  un- 
doubtedly desirable.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  War  it  seemed 
that  the  question  had  been  indefinitely  postponed.  It  is 
now  certain  that  the  years  of  reconstruction  will  make  this 
matter  a  live  issue. 

VI.  SOCIAL  INSURANCE 

The  term  "social  insurance"  is  loosely  applied  to  a  wide 
group  of  measures  designed  to  distribute  the  burdens  of  dis- 
abilities due  to  industrial  accidents,  sickness,  unemploy- 
ment, disability,  and  death.  It  has  long  been  recognized 
that  the  direct  occasion  of  much  pauperism  is  to  be  found  in 
contingencies  that  are  by  nature  insurable,  and  it  is  thus  ob- 
vious that  a  certain  measure  of  pauperism  can  be  prevented 
or  met  by  forms  of  provision  that  are  less  humil- 

Anticipations  ,       .     ,.    .  ,      .          .  .          .        ,     . 

lating  to  the  individual  and  more  just  m  their 
apportionment  of  burdens  in  society  at  large.  The  more  op- 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE  423 

timistic  collectivists  anticipate  such  complete  provision  for 
the  contingencies  of  life  that  there  will  be  no  need  of  continu- 
ing present  methods  of  direct  relief  of  destitution.  Poverty 
is  likened  by  such  reformers  to  a  preventable  disease  that  can^ 
l)e  entirely  overcome  if  proper  measures  are  taken.  It  is  not 
altogether  clear,  however,  that  relief  of  distress  by  means  of 
insurance  methods  is  in  all  instances  more  economical  and 
preferable  to  direct  relief  out  of  poor-rates. 

The  different  contingencies  that  must  needs  be  met  present 
widely  different  opportunities  for  the  distribution  of  the  bur- 
den of  the  disability.  The  dangers  of  accident 
hi  industry,  agriculture,  or  domestic  employ- 
ment can  be  made  a  burden  upon  the  industry  in  general, 
and  at  the  present  time  there  is  little  disposition  to  question 
the  widsom  of  placing  definitely  upon  the  employer  the  im- 
mediate burden  of  occupational  accidents,  with  the  under- 
standing that  the  increased  cost  of  doing  business  can  be 
transmitted  to  consumers  of  the  goods  hi  higher  prices.  The 
burden  of  a  hazardous  occupation  thus  falls  upon  the  entire 
body  of  consumers  of  the  article  instead  of  crushing  the  indi- 
vidual workman  and  his  dependents  and  ultimately  increas- 
ing the  tax-rate  hi  the  locality. 

In  other  cases  it  is  not  possible  or  desirable  entirely  to  re- 
lieve the  individual  and  the  taxpayers  of  all  burdens.  Sick- 
ness, permanent  disability,  old  age,  and  death  other  con- 
are  all  insurable  contingencies,  but  there  is  no  SJSJSSJ 
ground  for  making  them  charges  upon  the  occu-  different 
pation  as  distinct  from  charges  upon  the  individual  and  the 
taxpayers.  It  is  obviously  unpractical  to  require  persons  to 
make  provision  for  an  uncertain  future  when  then*  means  are 
insufficient  to  satisfy  all  the  legitimate  needs  of  the  present. 
Providence  is  a  virtue  which  the  poor  cannot  wisely  practice. 
Contributionp  towjjjd  insurance  by  the  poor,  *\nd  even  hv 
artisans  who  are  well  above  the  poverty  line,  cannot  be  re- 
quired on  any  large  scale.  It  is  perhaps  desirable  that  some 
nominal  contribution  should  be  expected  of  them,  but  j.t  is 
inconceivable  tha,^,  j}he  cost  of  insiiranfte,  shpnld  be  borne  by 
those  whose  economic  independence  is  jnost  jeopardized 


424  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

by  sicknesSjjjremature  disability,  and  old  age.  The  charge 
must  needs  fall  largelyupon  the  community*  either  as  con- 
sumers or  as  taxpayers,  and  it  seems  desirable  that  the  bur- 
denshould  become  a  direct  obligation 


In  so  far  as  social  insurance  is  financed  from  the  public 
treasury  it  differs  only  in  form  and  in  name  from  the  relief 
insurance  destitution  by  the  Poor-Law  authorities.  In 
of poor-reii«f  ajj  countries,  jt  hasj)een  f QJimd  that  the  relief  of 
the  sick,  the  infirm,  and  t£e  aged  constituted  a  iar^e  parToL 
the  problem.  Tne  elaboration  of  insurance  legislation  is 
really  a  form  of  the  policy  of  classification  recommended  by 
Chad  wick  in  1832  as  the  sound  basis  for  any  system  of  poor- 
relief.  The  insurance  legislation  would  free  the  recipient 
from  the  legal  disabilities  usually  attached  to  the  receipt  of 
poor-relief.  The  insurance  stipend,  too,  would  assume  the 
form  of  a  purely  contractual  payment  as  distinct  from  a 
charitable  dole. 

In  practice,  it  is  likely  that  insurance  against  sickness  ancL 
disability  reacEeslTwider  ran^oTSeecTO  and 

^MM*^HMMM|*II'IVH||M*M>M^I*MMMIIOTMMMMIMRPM 

important  that  each  case  would  be  more  adequately  pro- 
differences  vided  for.  Insurance  is  thus  a  method  of  guar- 
anteeing a  superior  type  of  provision  for  distress  of  certain 
kinds.  Insurance  against  old  age  has  as  yet  remained  dis- 
tinctly inferior  to  the  provision  made  by  the  relieving  author- 
ities under  the  poor-laws.  The  pensions  are  small  and  the 
age  at  which  pensions  begin  is  high.  Some  income  is  as- 
sumed, both  by  the  size  of  the  stipend  and  the  age  at  which 
it  commences.  Such  insurance  can  hardly  prevent  particu- 
lar individuals  from  coming  on  the  poor-rates;  it  adds  a  little 
to  the  income  of  people  who  would  not  come  on  the  rates  and 
probably  saves  them  from  much  hardship. 

The  burden  of  industrial  risk  was  placed  by  the  common 

law  upon  the  workman.    The  employer  was  responsible  only 

for  the  most  direct  personal  negligence,  so  that 

Negligence  \  5»  ' 

in  large  enterprises  in  which  the  workmen  sel- 
dom came  into  any  direct  relations  with  the  employer  there 
was  scarcely  any  opportunity  for  showing  that  the  employer 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE      425 

was  personally  at  fault.     The  injustice  of  this  legal  theory 
was  remedied  in  part  by  the  Act  of  1880  which  made  the  em- 
ployer  liable  for  all  accidents  caused  by  defective  works  or 
machinery  or  by  the  negligence  of  persons  in  his  employ. 
Such  provision  for  recovery  of  damages  was  inadequate  in 
theory  and  in  practice.     The  calamity  is  not  mitigated  by 
establishing  the  fact  of  negligence  on  the  part  of  the  individ- 
ual injured,  and  there  iscertainly  little  purpose  in  paving  to . 
lawyers  money  tEat  woukLsnriice  to  setthejjniurefl  p«rty  nnT 
"his  feet, 

lTne  defects  of  the  modified  common-law  system  were  rec- 
ognized at  an  early  date  and  there  were  attempts  made  in 
the  early  nineties  to  apply  the  general  principle  compensa- 
of  the  Compensation  Laws.  There  was  opposi-  tionLaws 
A  tion,  especially  in  the  House  of  Lords;  but  strangely  enough 
A0  the  Conservatives  in  1897  passed  a  genuine  compensation 
law,  though  the  Liberals  had  not  been  able  to  secure  the 
Lords'  assent  to  a  much  less  thoroughgoing  measure.  The 
Law  of  1897  was  somewhat  limited  in  scope,  and  the  benefits 
provided  were  not  as  liberal  as  they  have  subsequently  be- 
come, but  the  essential  principle  of  compensation  was  em- 
bodied hi  the  act.  It  was  no  longer  necessary  for  the  work- 
man to  prove  neglect  on  the  part  of  the  employer,  but  merely 
the  fact  of  injury  in  the  course  of  his  employment.  In  1900 
the  law  was  amended  to  include  common  and  agricultural 
laborers;  and  in  1906  provision  was  made  for  the  application 
of  the  principles  of  the  act  to  clerks,  domestic  servants,  and 
sailors. 

In  event  of  death  the  sum  of  three  years'  wages  is  paid  to 
the  dependents,  but  not  more  than  £300  nor  less  than  £150. 
If  there  are  no  direct  dependents  the  employer      ngfi 
is  responsible  merely  for  funeral  expenses  not 
exceeding  £10.     In  event  of  disability  exceeding  one  week, 
half  the  average  weekly  wage  must  be  paid,  but  not  more 
than  £1.     If  the  disability  becomes  permanent,  the  same 
rate  of  compensation  is  paid  during  life.     The  Act  of  1907 
makes  somewhat  more  liberal  provision  in  a  number  of 
administrative  details. 


426  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

The  English  legislation  does  not  require  the  employer  to 
insure  himself  against  the  risk  of  accident  nor  does  it  provide 
for  any  special  supervision  of  the  private  corporations  that 
undertake  the  business  of  industrial  insurance.  The  em- 
ployers are  allowed  to  utilize  the  existing  Friendly  Societies, 
but  most  insurance  is  now  carried  by  private  companies. 
Existing  The  expenses  of  management  of  this  insurance 

difficulties  legislation  are  high,  and  more  is  consumed  in 
legal  fees  than  is  desirable.  The  persistence  of  the  older 
laws  creates  a  number  of  legal  problems  that  give  rise  to  an 
unfortunate  amount  of  litigation.  The  leadjgrs  of  the  WQik- 
ing-men  are  not  friendly  to  this  legislation,  as  it  seems  to 
compete  with  their  Friendly  Societies  and  Trade  Unions. 
The  strength  of  unionism  was  in  part  based  on  the  prospect 
of  the  benefits  offered  by  the  societies,  so  that  this  facilita- 
tion of  recovery  of  damages  seemed  to  threaten  the  existence 
of  organized  labor.  Official  opinion  in  the  labor  world  is  thus 
apparently  inconsistent  with  the  best  interests  of  the  class. 

The  hostility  of  the  working-men's  organizations  was 
more  pronounced  with  reference  to  the  National  Insurance 
Health  Act  of  1911  which  made  provision  for  insurance 

insurance  against  sickness.  The  political  difficulty  was 
clearly  foreseen  by  the  sponsors  of  the  statute,  and  an  at- 
tempt was  made  to  conciliate  labor  by  utilizing  existing 
Friendly  Societies  and  other  benefit  associations.  But  this 
device  was  only  partially  successful  despite  the  fact  that  the 
working-men's  societies  had  enrolled  scarcely  more  than  a 
quarter  of  the  industrial  population.  The  new  act  makes 
insurance  against  sickness  and  disablement  compulsory  upon 
all  workers  between  the  ages  of  sixteen  and  sixty-five.  The 
scheme  is  contributory:  men  pay  fourpence  weekly,  women 
threepence;  employers,  threepence  for  each  worker;  and  the 
State  two  ninths  of  the  benefits  payable  to  men  and  one 
fourth  of  the  benefits  payable  to  women.  The  employer  is 
responsible  for  the  payment  of  his  contribution  and  for  the 
deduction  of  the  worker's  contribution  from  wages.1 

1  The  schedules  of  contributions  are  really  more  complex  than  this  sum- 
mary would  suggest. 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE  427 

Benefits  are  paid  out  through  some  approved  society  or 
through  the  Post-Office.  'The  benefits  include:  provision  for 
medical  attendance  and  treatment  in  a  sanatorium  if  neces- 
sary; the  payment  of  a  weekly  sum  for  not  more  than  twenty- 
six  weeks  as  a  sick  benefit,  or  during  the  continuance  of 
incapacity  as  a  disability  benefit;  and  a  maternity  benefit 
of  thirty  shillings.  Some  reductions  are  made  hi  the  case  of 
unmarried  persons  without  dependents.  The  calculations 
of  actuaries  gave  reason  to  anticipate  that  the  contributions 
required  in  the  act  would  produce  a  surplus  of  ten  per  cent 
over  the  costs  of  management  and  the  primary  obligations 
with  reference  to  benefits;  it  is  intended  to  apply  this  surplus 
to  what  are  classified  in  the  act  as  additional  benefits:  free 
medical  attendance  for  dependents  of  the  insured;  payments 
to  distressed  members;  increase  of  sickness  and  disablement 
benefits  in  all  cases  or  in  the  cases  of  married  men;  allow- 
ances to  the  insured  during  convalescence;  the  building  and 
maintenance  of  convalescent  homes;  payment  of  pensions 
or  superannuation  allowances;  extension  of  the  maternity 
benefit. 

The  act  provided  also  for  insurance  against  unemploy- 
ment, supplementing  the  Labor  Exchanges  Act  of  1909  by 
introducing  out-of-work  benefits  in  a  select  list  Unem  j 
of  trades:  building,  construction  of  works,  ship- 


building,  mechanical  engineering,  iron-found- 
ing, construction  of  vehicles,  and  saw-milling.  With  refer- 
ence to  these  trades  insurance  is  compulsory:  both  the  em- 
ployers and  their  men  contribute  twopence  halfpenny  each 
week,  and  the  State  adds  an  amount  equal  to  one  third  the 
total  contribution  of  both  combined.  Persons  under  eight- 
een contribute  one  penny  only  each  week  and  the  other  con- 
tributaries  in  like  proportion.  No  benefits  are  to  be  paid 
during  the  first  week  of  unemployment,  nor  for  unemploy- 
ment resulting  from  a  strike  in  the  trade  hi  which  the  insured 
is  engaged.  The  workmen  receive  seven  shillings  per  week 
when  out  of  work,  but  no  benefits  shall  be  paid  for  more  than 
fifteen  weeks  in  any  one  year  nor  in  excess  of  the  proportion 
of  one  week's  benefit  for  each  five  weeks  of  contributions. 


428  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Provision  for  voluntary  insurance  against  old  age  has 

existed  in  Great  Britain  since  18S3.     The  National  Debt 

Office  at  that  time  made  arrangements  to  sell 

Old  age 

annuities  of  not  more  than  twenty  pounds  on 
one  life.  The  amounts  allowed  have  since  been  increased, 
and  in  1864  the  Postal  Savings  Bank  offered  similar  oppor- 
tunities. These  facilities  were  used  in  a  small  way  by  the 
middle  class,  but  in  so  far  as  insurance  was  taken  out  most  of 
it  was  taken  through  private  companies  or  friendly  societies. 
The  passage  of  the  German  Insurance  Law  in  1884  attracted 
attention  to  the  subject,  and  in  the  years  that  followed  at- 
tempts were  made  to  secure  the  passage  of  similar  legislation. 
A  Parliamentary  Commission  reported  that  the  administra- 
tive difficulties  were  insuperable,  and  for  a  time  the  issue 
was  not  brought  up  in  Parliament,  though  some  advocates 
of  the  policy  continued  to  keep  it  before  the  public.  In  1900 
a  departmental  commission  reported  favorably  upon  the 
subject  and  suggested  the  general  outlines  of  the  present 
statute,  but  the  project  did  not  become  law  until  1908. 

No  contributions  are  required  from  the  prospective  re- 
cipients of  pensions,  the  entire  burden  being  assumed  by  the 
The  Pension  State.  All  persons  of  seventy  years  of  age,  who 
Law  for  twenty  years  have  been  British  subjects  and 

not  in  receipt  of  poor-relief,  are  entitled  to  a  pension  if  their 
income  does  not  exceed  £31 10s.  The  amount  of  the  pension 
varies  with  the  income:  ranging  from  five  shillings  per  week 
for  persons  with  incomes  not  exceeding  £21,  to  one  shilling 
for  persons  with  incomes  exceeding  £28  17s.  6d.,  but  less  than 
£31  10s.  It  is  the  intention  of  the  act  that  the  aggregate  in- 
come of  the  pensioner  shall  not  exceed  thirteen  shillings  per 
week. 

It  is  early  to  judge  of  the  effect  of  this  statute,  but  it  seems 
scarcely  possible  that  it  should  be  of  much  significance  in  re- 
ducing the  burden  of  poor-relief.  The  exclusion  from  the 
benefits  of  the  law  of  all  persons  who  have  been  in  receipt  of 
poor-relief  will  probably  exclude  from  the  sphere  of  opera- 
tion of  the  act  many  of  those  members  of  the  poorer  classes 
who  come  upon  the  rates  in  old  age.  Furthermore,  the  rela- 


PROTECTION  OF  HEALTH  BY  THE  STATE 

tively  small  stipend  makes  it  merely  supplementary  in  char- 
acter. The  act  will  doubtless  be  productive  of  much  good, 
but  its  benefits  will  accrue  to  an  essentially  different  class 
than  those  who  become  public  charges.  As  it  stands,  the 
statute  will  contribute  little  toward  the  abolition  of  poverty. 

It  may  seem  ungracious  to  call  attention  to  the  deficien- 
cies of  this  legislation,  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  these 
laws  were  defended  in  Germany  as  a  different  way  of  making 
provision  for  poor-relief,  and  it  was  actually  declared  that 
the  expenditure  for  poor-relief  would  diminish.  Optimists 
in  England  and  the  United  States  have  cher-  Probable 
ished  hopes  that  such  measures  would  lead  to  results 
the  abolition  of  poverty,  though  they  have  never  encour- 
aged the  belief  that  the  adoption  of  such  legislation  would 
reduce  the  burden  of  the  poor-rates  and  thus  justify  in  part 
the  great  expenditure  incurred.  There  has  been  no  reduc- 
tion in  the  burden  of  the  poor-rates  in  Germany,  and  it  does 
not  seem  likely  that  there  will  be  any  diminution  in  the 
amount  of  relief  that  will  have  to  be  provided  in  England. 
These  new  forms  of  provision  for  distress  will,  for  a  long  time 
at  least,  be  an  increase  in  public  burdens.  They  are  an  ex- 
pression of  increased  consciousness  of  the  urgency  of  the  so- 
cial problem,  and  this  attitude  of  mind  leads  to  dissatisfac- 
tion with  the  old  standards  of  relief.  It  therefore  becomes 
an  interesting  financial  problem;  how  far  can  these  new 
measures  be  carried  without  imposing  excessive  burdens 
upon  the  community? 

Those  who  believe  that  it  will  be  possible  to  provide  ade- 
quately for  the  needs  of  all  have  called  attention  to  the  fact 
that  a  pro-rata  division  of  the  national  income  can  poverty 
would  furnish  each  family  with  the  necessaries  be  abolished? 
of  life.  The  probable  cost  of  these  various  insurance  schemes 
affords  a  different  basis  for  speculating  about  the  power  of 
the  community  to  make  provision  for  the  needs  of  all  its 
members  in  such  fashion  as  would  abolish  poverty.  Com- 
plete computations  have  probably  not  been  made  upon  the 
generous  scale  that  would  be  necessary,  but  the  actuarial 
experience  gained  in  preparing  the  existing  legislation  would 


430  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND] 

hardly  encourage  the  view  that  the  abolition  of  poverty  is 
within  the  scope  of  any  system  of  taxation  that  is  now  con- 
ceivable. 

The  sanitary  idea  as  conceived  by  Chadwick  must  be  ac- 
cepted as  the  fundamental  ideal  of  protective  legislation:  our 
health  legislation  must  seek  to  overcome  fate  and  give  the 
individual  a  chance  to  accomplish  the  full  span  of  life.  Pre- 
ventable causes  of  disaster,  whether  physical  or  economic, 
must  be  forestalled  as  far  as  may  be;  but  it  would  seem  that 
we  lose  all  consciousness  of  human  limitations  when  we  re- 
quire of  ourselves  the  actual  accomplishment  of  all  that  we 
must  strive  to  attain. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY 

I.  GENESIS  OP  THE  RAILWAY 

THE  modern  railway  unites  two  elements  of  mechanical 
technique  that  developed  independently  for  considerable 
periods:  the  prepared  roadbed  appears  in  its  Elements  of 
simplest  form  in  the  tram  lines  that  began  to  be  **  railway 
laid  down  hi  the  collieries  as  early  as  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury; the  mechanical  tractive  power  developed  naturally  as 
one  of  the  applications  of  the  steam  engine.  The  earlier  de- 
velopment of  the  stationary  engine  resulted  hi  the  use  of  the 
cable  system  of  transmitting  power  at  the  outset,  but  the  suc- 
cessful application  of  the  non-condensing  engine  to  the  prob- 
lems of  the  locomotive  soon  made  the  modern  railway  possi- 
ble. The  intimate  connection  between  these  two  features 
was  not  quickly  perceived.  The  inventors  of  the  locomotive 
were  slow  to  see  the  importance  of  a  prepared  roadbed  with 
rails:  the  proprietors  of  the  tram  lines  were  equally  slow  to 
see  the  need  of  steam  tractive  power.  It  is  thus  possible  to 
distinguish  three  separate  inventive  achievements:  the  in- 
vention of  the  tram  line  with  rails,  the  invention  of  the  loco- 
motive, and  the  invention  of  the  "railway." 

Although  tram  lines  were  used  in  all  the  mining  sections  of 
England  the  Newcastle  coal-fields  took  the  initiative  hi  the 
principal  innovations.  The  collieries  were  near 
the  coast  so  that  little  outlay  of  capital  was 
necessary  to  make  experiments  hi  improvements  of  transpor- 
tation to  the  wharves.  Each  mine  usually  attended  to  the 
transportation  of  its  own  coal  to  the  port.  Under  such  cir- 
cumstances the  resourceful  proprietor  enjoyed  an  opportu- 
nity that  was  unusual.  The  first  improvements  were  made 
hi  1630,  when  plank  roads  were  laid  for  the  coal  cars  at  one 
of  the  collieries.  The  enterprise  was  not  immediately  suc- 
cessful, but  hi  1676  the  system  of  plank  ways  was  in  general 


432  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

use  throughout  the  district.  Large  sums  were  paid  for  rights 
of  way.  It  is  not  certain  that  any  of  these  early  tram  lines 
used  cross-ties  to  bind  the  rails  or  planks  together;  in  most 
cases,  the  lines  for  each  wheel  were  wholly  independent.  '  Be- 
ginning in  1738,  experimentation  with  various  devices  to 
protect  the  planks  with  metal  became  common,  and  toward 
the  close  of  the  century  something  like  the  modern  rail  had 
been  developed.  The  earliest  devices  were  mere  strips  of 
iron  attached  rather  imperfectly  to  the  ways.  In  1767  the 
iron  works  at  Coalbrookdale  cast  some  rails 

Iron  rails 

with  flanges  to  keep  the  wheels  on  the  track. 
At  collieries  belonging  to  the  Duke  of  Norfolk  at  Sheffield 
flanged  rails  were  laid  on  wooden  cross-ties  in  1776,  but 
workmen  tore  up  the  road  and  forced  the  inventor  to  flee  for 
his  life.  The  modern  combination  of  a  flanged  wheel  with  an 
edge  rail  was  first  worked  out  hi  Leicestershire,  by  William 
Jessup,  but  this  system  was  not  generally  introduced  at  that 
time. 

The  canal  companies  were  the  first  to  build  tram  lines  de- 
signed to  serve  as  common  carriers,  a  number  of  lines  being 
Common  projected  to  connect  the  canals  with  mines  or 

carriers  towns  that  might  add  to  the  traffic.     These 

feeders  to  the  canals  were  the  first  tram  lines  to  receive  Par- 
liamentary authorization;  their  charters  are  thus  the  first 
charters  of  a  type  strictly  comparable  to  the  instruments 
of  incorporation  granted  the  early  railways.  The  earliest 
grant  is  of  1776,  to  the  Trent  and  Mersey  Navigation  Com- 
pany, with  reference  to  lines  projected  in  Staff ordshire. 
Other  grants  were  made  in  1792, 1793,  and  1802;  hi  all,  about 
a  half  a  dozen  lines.  A  few  independent  tram  lines  were  pro- 
jected early  in  the  nineteenth  century:  notably  the  Wands- 
worth-Croydon  line  (1801)  designed  to  serve  London,  and 
the  Croydon-Reigate  line  (1803).  These  lines  were  not 
financially  successful,  and  if  it  were  not  for  their  place  in  the 
history  of  railway  legislation  they  would  scarce  be  worthy  of 
mention.  They  represent  a  phase  in  the  development  of  the 
tram  line,  however,  and  their  history  shows  clearly  that  such 
roads  had  little  hope  of  success  without  motor  traction. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY         433 

The  application  of  the  steam  locomotive  to  the  tram  line 
was,  in  the  first  instance,  the  work  of  Richard  Trevithick. 
He  must  be  regarded  as  the  real  inventor  of  both  The  loco- 
locomotive  and  railway,  despite  the  failure  of  motive 
his  work  to  introduce  either  of  these  inventions  into  general 
use.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  use  of  the  locomotive  on  rails 
was  incidental  and  he  did  not  perceive  the  vital  need  of  the 
prepared  way.  It  may  be  that  fuller  consciousness  of  this 
would  have  come  had  he  remained  at  the  iron  works  at  Pen- 
y-darran,  but  other  ventures  called  him  elsewhere  and  mo- 
nopolized his  attention.  It  would  perhaps  be  an  accurate 
account  of  the  matter  to  say  that  the  development  of  the 
railway  and  its  locomotive  was  crowded  out  of  his  eventful 
life  by  the  completion  of  other  projects  of  less  difficulty  and 
greater  immediate  prospectiveness. 

None  of  the  commandingly  great  inventions  was  less  truly 
the  work  of  one  man  than  the  locomotive.  The  two  types  of 
steam  engine  are  closely  enough  related  to  make  Non-condens- 
the  development  of  the  non-condensing  engine  ing  en^98 
a  logical  outcome  of  the  condensing  engine  as  built  by  Watt. 
In  fact,  one  of  Watt's  workmen,  Murdock,  made  various  ex- 
periments with  a  model  for  a  non-condensing  engine  shortly 
after  Watt's  engine  was  effectively  brought  before  the  pub- 
lic. Watt  discouraged  this  attempt  with  apparent  sincerity. 
He  could  not  believe  that  it  would  be  possible  to  construct 
boilers  of  sufficient  strength  to  resist  the  high  pressures  that 
would  be  essential  to  such  a  machine.  Watt's  engines  sel- 
dom developed  steam  pressure  more  than  sufficient  to  offset 
the  atmospheric  pressure;  their  actual  working  power  was 
due  to  the  partial  vacuum  created  behind  the  piston  head  by 
the  condensation  of  steam.  The  effective  pressure  per 
square  inch  on  the  piston  head  was  thus  very  small,  perhaps 
eight  or  ten  pounds;  large  pistons  were  almost  essential  to 
the  requirements  of  power.  These  low  pressures  taxed  the 
early  boilers  to  the  limit  of  safety,  and,  in  great  measure,  the 
development  of  the  high-pressure  non-condensing  engine  was 
a  result  of  the  perfection  in  the  handling  of  sheet  iron.  Trev- 
ithick was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  use  of  iron  tanks,  and 


434  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

one  is  tempted  to  believe  that  his  work  with  the  non-con- 
densing engine  was  largely  based  on  his  faith  in  the  strength 
of  his  sheet-iron  boilers.  His  early  engines  developed  steam 
pressures  of  fifty  or  sixty  pounds  to  the  square  inch,  and,  as 
there  was  no  attempt  to  create  a  vacuum  on  the  off-side  of 
the  piston  head,  the  effective  working  pressure  would  be 
about  thirty-five  or  forty-five  pounds  to  the  square  inch. 
The  size  of  the  piston  could  thus  be  greatly  reduced  and  the  en- 
tire machine  was  more  than  correspondingly  reduced  in  bulk, 
as  no  condensing  chamber  was  necessary.  The  compactness 
of  this  type  of  engine  was  essential  to  the  development  of  a 
locomotive.  The  slow  perfection  of  the  type  was  due  to  the 
lack  of  faith  in  boilers  and  the  difficulties  of  producing  suffi- 
ciently high  pressure  to  make  the  engine  practical. 

The  incredulity  of  the  members  of  the  profession  is  well 
illustrated  by  a  letter  written  by  Trevithick  from  Coalbrook- 
Trevithick's  dale  in  1802.  He  was  working  there  with  a 
experiments  non-condensing  pumping  engine: 

The  engineers  at  this  place  all  said  it  was  impossible  for  so  small 
a  cylinder  to  lift  water  to  the  top  of  the  pumps,  and  degraded  the 
principle,  though  at  the  same  time  they  spoke  highly  in  favor  of  the 
simple  and  well-contrived  engine.  They  say  it  is  a  supernatural 
engine,  for  it  will  work  without  either  fire  or  water,  and  swore  that 
all  the  engineers  hitherto  are  the  biggest  fools  in  creation.  They 
are  constantly  calling  on  me,  for  they  all  say  they  would  never  be- 
lieve it  unless  they  saw  it.  ...  After  they  had  seen  the  water  at 
the  pump  head,  they  said  it  was  possible,  but  that  the  boiler  would 
not  maintain  its  steam  at  that  pressure  for  five  minutes :  but  after  a 
short  time  they  went  off,  with  a  solid  countenance  and  a  silent 
tongue.1 

As  usual  in  such  cases  there  was  some  truth  on  both  sides: 
Trevithick's  faith  in  his  new  engine  was  fully  warranted,  but 
the  difficulties  that  loomed  large  in  the  minds  of  his  fellow- 
engineers  were  a  serious  obstacle  to  the  use  of  this  type  of 
engine  for  as  much  as  twenty  years. 

Trevithick's  first  locomotive  was  built  in  1801  at  Cam- 
borne.  It  was  defective  in  a  number  of  details,  and  though 
it  would  run  short  distances  it  was  incapable  of  any  continu- 

1  Trevithick,  F. :  Life  of  Richard  Trevithick,  i,  153. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY         435 

ous  performance.  This  machine  was  designed  to  run  on 
the  highways,  as  were  most  of  his  early  models.  Early  loco- 
Patents  were  taken  out  in  1802.  The  details  motives 
are  not  very  clearly  specified,  but  it  seems  evident  that  it  was 
intended  to  use  the  exhaust  steam  in  creating  a  forced  draft. 
This  is  the  most  important  single  detail  in  the  early  engines, 
for  this  use  of  the  exhaust  steam  and  the  use  of  a  tubular 
boiler  were  the  ultimate  means  of  overcoming  the  difficulties 
of  raising  sufficient  steam  pressure  to  make  the  machine 
wholly  practical  and  economical.  It  was  possible  to  make 
locomotives  that  would  go  long  before  it  was  possible  to  make 
machines  that  could  really  compete  with  horses. 

Several  road  locomotives  were  built  by  Trevithick.  One 
was  run  ninety  miles  over  the  roads  to  Plymouth  under  its 
own  steam.  Most  of  these  machines  were  exhibited  at  Lon- 
don, and  thus  gained  considerable  publicity.  The  "Catch 
me  who  can,"  1808,  was  run  on  a  circular  track  at  London, 
but  it  was  designed  as  a  road  locomotive.  In  February, 
1804,  Trevithick  tried  out  a  tram  locomotive  at  the  iron 
works  of  Pen-y-darran : 

The  engine  with  water  included  is  about  five  tons.  .  .  .  The 
steam  that  is  discharged  from  the  engine  is  turned  up  the  chimney 
about  three  feet  above  the  fire,  and  when  the  engine  works  forty 
strokes  per  minute  not  the  smallest  particle  of  steam  appears  out  of 
the  top  of  the  chimney. .  .  .  The  fire  burns  much  better  when  the 
steam  goes  up  the  chimney  than  when  the  engine  is  idle.  Yester- 
day, we  proceeded  on  our  journey  with  the  engine;  we  carried  ten 
tons  of  iron,  five  wagons,  and  seventy  men.  It  is  above  nine  miles 
which  we  performed  in  four  hours  and  five  minutes.  We  had  to 
cut  down  some  trees  and  remove  some  large  rocks  out  of  the  road. 
The  engine  while  working  went  nearly  five  miles  per  hour. 

This  account  is  so  complete  that  it  is  impossible  to  deny  that 
Trevithick  accomplished  all  the  essential  tasks  of  applying 
the  steam  engine  to  a  railway,  and  yet  his  work  did  not  result 
directly  hi  the  building  of  railways.  He  put  a  locomotive  on 
rails,  but  he  had  no  realization  of  any  economies  to  be  de- 
rived from  a  carefully  prepared  roadbed,  with  rails  and  a 
specially  planned  series  of  grades.  He  shared  the  impression 


436  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

that  was  common  at  that  time,  supposing  that  the  future  of 
the  new  tractor  was  on  the  highways. 

In  the  developments  that  followed  his  early  experiments 
attention  was  given  primarily  to  the  building  of  steam  car- 
Motor  riages  to  take  the  place  of  the  stage-coaches, 
carriages  jn  ^ne  decade  of  the  twenties  there  were  several 
steam  carriages  sufficiently  perfected  to  operate  on  the  roads 
with  appreciable  continuity.  Gurney  built  a  steam  coach  in 
1827  that  operated  in  the  vicinity  of  London  for  two  years. 
On  one  trip  he  made  eighty-five  miles  in  ten  hours,  including 
all  stops,  and  he  frequently  attained  twenty  or  thirty  miles  an 
hour  for  short  distances.  A  line  was  operated  by  steam 
power  in  the  Epping  Forest  for  a  short  time,  but  the  roads 
proved  to  be  too  rough.  Steam  coaches  were  also  operated 
regularly  between  London  and  Stratford,  and  between  Chel- 
tenham and  Gloucester.  Proprietors  of  coach-lines  became 
apprehensive,  and  at  their  instance  an  investigation  was  made 
by  Parliament.  The  report  of  the  Parliamentary  committee 
in  1831  affords  the  best  indication  of  contemporary  opinion 
that  could  well  be  desired.  One  must  remember  that  this  is 
subsequent  to  the  opening  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
Railway.  The  committee  reported  that  "the  substitution 
of  inanimate  for  animal  power,  in  draught  on  the  common 
roads,  is  one  of  the  most  important  improvements  in  the 
means  of  internal  communication."  Its  practicability  was 
declared  to  be  "fully  established,"  and  the  committee  ven- 
tured to  predict  that  its  introduction  would  "take  place  more 
or  less  rapidly,  in  proportion  as  the  attention  of  scientific 
men  shall  be  drawn,  by  public  encouragement,  to  further 
improvement."  They  felt  that  the  success  of  the  new  sys- 
tem had  been  retarded  by  prejudice,  adverse  interests  and 
prohibitory  tolls.1 

The  concentration  of  attention  in  the  south  upon  this  as- 
Coiiiery  pect  of  motor  transport  left  the  discovery  of  the 

problems  reaj  signjficance  of  rajis  to  the  engineers  of  the 

collieries  of  the  Newcastle  district.     They  took  the  lead  in 

1  Cited  by  Thurston,  R.  H.:  The  Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine  (New  York, 
1902),  170. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY         437 

applying  power  to  the  tram  line  for  precisely  the  same  rea- 
sons that  had  forced  them  to  apply  the  tram  line  to  their  pe- 
culiarly difficult  problem  of  transportation.  None  of  these 
engineers  were  in  any  true  sense  inventors  of  locomotives;  at 
best  they  were  inventors  of  certain  parts  or  features  of  the 
machine,  but  they  were  the  real  inventors  of  the  railroad. 
In  the  group  of  men  that  contributed  to  this  new  departure 
George  Stephenson  is  the  commanding  figure,  but  it  should 
always  be  remembered  that  he  was  not  working  alone.  He 
owed  much  to  some  of  his  early  contemporaries.  The  cir- 
cumstances of  his  profession  brought  him  in  touch  with  the 
more  energetic  of  the  engine-builders  of  the  north,  and  his 
work  with  the  locomotive  was  clearly  inspired  by  then*  suc- 
cesses and  failures.  His  greatest  talent  lay  in  doing  more 
perfectly,  and  with  clearer  consciousness  of  the  mechanical 
problems  involved,  the  things  that  had  been  done  and  were 
being  done  by  his  fellow-engineers.  He  was  a  self-made  man 
of  great  ingenuity;  resourceful  but  intensely  practical.  His 
accomplishments,  especially  the  earlier  accomplishments, 
were  all  in  the  course  of  the  day's  work. 

The  locomotive  came  to  the  north  soon  after  Trevi thick's 
first  models  were  completed.  According  to  some  accounts, 
the  engine  built  by  Blackett  at  Wylam  Colliery  Experiments  at 
in  1804  was  put  together  with  the  assistance  of  the  coal  mines 
Trevithick's  plans.  Other  accounts  deny  any  direct  con- 
nection with  Trevithick.  It  is  difficult  to  be  certain  of  the  de- 
tails, but  it  would  be  most  creditable  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  northern  mechanics  to  assume  that  they  were  working 
independently,  for  if  they  really  had  any  of  Trevithick's  de- 
signs they  failed  to  understand  the  most  important  features 
of  them.  The  early  northern  designers  were  slow  to  perceive 
the  importance  of  the  use  of  the  exhaust  steam,  and  incredu- 
lous on  the  matter  of  smooth  wheels.  They  found  it  hard  to 
believe  that  there  would  be  enough  friction  to  give  the  wheels 
a  grip  on  the  track.  It  may  be  that  heavy  grades  were  partly 
responsible  for  the  persistent  use  of  rack  rails  in  the  early 
power  lines,  but  there  was  some  failure  to  understand  prin- 
ciples. 


438  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

When  Stephenson  addressed  himself  to  the  problem  Blenk- 
insop  had  built  a  rack-rail  locomotive  that  worked  effec- 
cabie  s  stems  *ively,  Hedley  had  patented  a  smooth-wheeled 
locomotive,  and  many  collieries  were  using  sta- 
tionary engines  to  draw  cars  up  inclined  planes  with  cables. 
The  tram  lines  were  being  divided  into  sections;  fairly  level 
reaches  were  operated  with  horses,  the  inclined  planes  by  ca- 
ble. Stephenson  was  in  charge  of  the  engineering  work  at 
the  Killingworth  Colliery,  and  in  1813  he  induced  the  pro- 
prietor to  apply  steam  traction.  In  the  following  year  an  en- 
gine was  completed  after  the  Blenkinsop  design.  The  ma- 
chine was  defective  in  many  respects  and  Stephenson  at  once 
set  to  work  to  improve  it.  A  machine  was  turned  out  in  1815 
which  was  wholly  practical.  The  model  was  used  for  several 
years  and  some  of  the  machines  remained  in  use  for  a  genera- 
tion. It  was  at  this  point  that  Stephenson  began  to  diverge 
from  his  predecessors.  He  undertook  a  scientific  study  of 
the  entire  problem  of  mechanical  transportation. 

The  first  fruit  of  these  studies  was  a  new  type  of  rail, 
stephenson's  which  was  patented  in  1816  and  immediately  put 
mto  use  at  the  colliery.  Then  in  1818  were  per- 
formed  the  truly  epoch-making  series  of  experi- 
ments on  the  resistances  1  to  which  carriages  were  exposed  on 

1  It  may  be  of  interest  to  study  in  connection  with  these  conclusions  of 
Stephenson  a  table  of  resistances  that  embodies  the  results  of  modern  experi- 
ments. In  modern  practice  it  is  usual  to  avoid  grades  of  more  than  two  per  cent, 
though  railroads  in  the  United  States  have  frequently  tolerated  higher  grades, 
even  up  to  six  per  cent.  In  England  there  are  few  severe  grades;  Stephenson's 
principles  having  been  accepted  by  the  engineering  profession. 

Rate  of  grade,  Total  resistance  — 

Per  cent  Feet  per  mile  Pounds  per  ton 

Level            8 

0.2  10.56  12 

0.4  21.12  16 

0.6  31.68  20 

0.8  42.24  24 

1.0  52.80  28 

1.2  63.36  32 


2.0  105.6  48 

3.0  158.4  68 

4.0          211.2  88 

5.0  264.0  108 

6.0  316.8  128 

(Wellington:  Economics  of  the  Location  of  Railroads  (1887),  669.) 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        439 

railways.  These  experiments  led  Stephenson  to  conclude 
that  it  was  essential  to  reduce  rolling  resistance  to  a  mini- 
mum, and  that  a  grade  of  one  per  cent  was  sufficient  to  re- 
duce the  working  efficiency  of  the  locomotive  by  fifty  per 
cent. 

This  fact  [writes  the  son]  called  my  father's  attention  to  the 
question  of  gradients  in  future  locomotive  lines.  He  then  became 
convinced  of  the  vital  importance,  in  an  economical  point  of  view, 
of  reducing  the  country  through  which  a  railway  was  intended  to 
pass  to  as  near  a  level  as  possible.  This  originated  in  his  mind  the 
distinctive  character  of  railway  works,  as  distin-  Railway 
guished  from  all  other  roads:  for  in  railroads  he  con-  works 
tended  that  large  sums  could  wisely  be  expended  in  perforating 
barriers  of  hills  with  long  tunnels,  and  in  raising  low  ground  with 
the  excess  cut  down  from  the  high  ground.  In  proportion  as  these 
views  fixed  themselves  upon  his  mind,  and  were  corroborated  by 
his  daily  experience,  he  became  more  and  more  convinced  of  the 
hopelessness  of  applying  steam  to  common  roads. 

This  statement  by  Robert  was  written  long  after  the  crucial 
experiments  were  made,  but  the  incidents  of  his  father's  ca- 
reer show  that,  the  importance  of  the  experiments  were  fully 
appreciated  by  him  at  once.  The  obstacles  to  be  overcome 
hi  the  development  of  the  railway  were  due  to  the  feebleness 
of  the  locomotives  of  the  tune  and  to  the  indisposition  of  the 
mine-owners  to  make  the  outlay  of  capital  that  would  be  re- 
quired to  grade  the  roadbed  according  to  Stephenson's  ideas. 
The  period  1815-25  was  characterized  by  a  notable  extension 
of  the  use  of  engines  working  inclined  planes  by  cables.  Lo- 
comotives were  frequently  used  on  level  stretches,  but  seldom 
constituted  the  main  source  of  tractive  power. 

The  Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway  is  technically  the 
first  steam  railway  designed  to  serve  as  a  common  carrier, 
but  its  accomplishments  were  not  sufficiently  The  Stockton 
striking  to  indicate  the  future  of  the  new  method  and  Darlington 
of  transportation.     In  its  general  mechanism  and  methods 
of  operation  it  differed  hi  no  important  respect  from  the  tram 
lines  operated  by  the  collieries  of  the  region.    It  was  owned 
by  a  group  of  mine-owners  and  was,  in  its  main  purpose,  a 
colliery  tram  line.    The  coal-miners  in  the  Bishop  Auckland 


440  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Valley  began  discussing  a  scheme  of  improved  transportation 
to  the  coast  as  early  as  1768;  they  thought  of  a  canal  at  that 
time,  and  the  canal  scheme  came  to  life  from  time  to  time 
during  the  next  half-century.  In  1810  a  tram  line  was  sug- 
gested. The  canal  project  was  revived  in  May,  1818,  and  a 
public  meeting  held  at  Stockton.  Some  people  from  Dar- 
lington became  interested,  and,  after  consultation  with  en- 
gineers, the  scheme  was  converted  into  a  tram-line  project. 
Surveys  were  made,  and  a  bill  for  a  charter  was  introduced 
into  Parliament.  Opposition  from  the  Duke  of  Cleveland 
delayed  the  passage  of  the  bill,  but  it  was  carried  in  1820. 

Late  hi  the  following  year  Stephenson  was  consulted  by 
the  promoters  of  the  line;  they  were  then  thinking  of  a  line 
stephenson's  operated  by  horses.  Stephenson  urged  them  to 
first  railway  operate  by  steam.  He  was  appointed  engineer 
to  the  company  in  September,  1822,  and  immediately  set  to 
work  on  a  careful  survey  of  the  proposed  route.  He  sug- 
gested a  new  line,  shorter  by  three  miles  and  less  difficult  in 
its  grades.  In  view  of  Stephenson's  ideas  it  would  seem  that 
this  was  the  first  attempt  to  locate  a  railway  according  to  the 
general  principles  that  are  now  commonplace,  but  some  of  the 
grades  actually  embodied  in  the  line  were  too  severe  to  be 
operated  by  locomotives,  so  that  one  must  assume  that  Ste- 
phenson was  not  successful  in  his  attempt  to  convert  the  pro- 
moters to  the  new  conception  of  the  railway.  The  planes 
were  operated  by  stationary  engines,  the  rest  of  the  line  by 
locomotives,  and  in  addition  concessions  were  granted  for  the 
operation  of  passenger  coaches  drawn  by  horses.  The  line 
thus  exhibited  all  the  uncertainties  then  existing  with  refer- 
ence to  the  future  of  the  railway.  The  road  was  opened  Sep- 
tember 27,  1825.  The  ceremonies  consisted  chiefly  of  the 
display  of  the  first  train,  the  details  of  the  exhibition  reflect- 
ing the  contemporary  attitude  toward  the  locomotive.  For 
a  considerable  distance  the  train  was  preceded  by  a  man  on 
horseback  who  was  supposed  to  keep  people  off  the  line,  and 
Stephenson  caused  much  astonishment  by  ordering  the 
horseman  out  of  the  way  and  speeding  up  his  engine  to  a  rate 
of  twelve  miles  per  hour. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        441 

Shortly  after  this  a  project  was  launched  for  a  railway  be- 
tween Liverpool  and  Manchester.     The  promoters  were  un- 
certain as  to  the  merits  of  stationary  engines  and  The  Liverpool 
locomotives;  they  were  inclined  on  the  whole  to 


regard  the  stationary  engine  and  cable  the  more 
efficient  system,  but  the  great  initial  outlay  made  them  hesi- 
tate to  install  such  an  equipment  over  the  relatively  long  line. 
The  whole  matter  was  thus  carefully  canvassed.  A  commit- 
tee was  appointed  to  visit  all  the  tram  lines  then  using  power. 
Various  engineers  were  consulted.  The  decision  was  in  favor 
of  the  locomotive. 

If  the  quantity  of  goods  be  very  small  or  very  uncertain,  it 
would  require  no  calculation  to  determine  that  the  locomotive  sys- 
tem is  the  cheaper,  because  by  it  you  increase  the  power  by  an  in- 
crease in  the  number  of  the  engines,  and  can  always  proportion  the 
power  to  the  demand,  while  upon  the  stationary  system  it  is  neces- 
sary first  to  form  an  estimate  of  the  probable  trade  and  then  at 
once  to  establish  a  line  of  engines,  ropes,  etc.,  from  end  to  end.1 

It  was  therefore  proposed  that  the  main  line  should  be 
worked  by  locomotives,  supplemented  by  two  fixed  engines 
at  the  hill  just  outside  of  Liverpool.  Stephenson  was  ap- 
pointed engineer,  and,  as  conditions  were  more  favorable  than 
in  the  case  of  colliery  roads,  he  urged  strongly  against  any 
dependence  upon  stationary  engines.  It  was  his  plan  to  carry 
out  as  carefully  as  possible  the  theory  of  the  railway  that  was 
suggested  to  him  by  his  experiments  in  1818.  His  views 
prevailed,  and  the  line  as  built  had  no  grades  that  were  im- 
practicable for  locomotives.  This  required  a  deep  cutting 
outside  of  Liverpool  —  the  Olive  Mount  cutting  that  is 
nearly  two  miles  long  and  at  places  one  hundred  feet  deep. 
This  first  true  railway  thus  represented  a  courageous  appli- 
cation of  the  new  principles. 

Stephenson  did  not  at  first  propose  to  concern  himself  hi 
any  way  with  the  locomotives.  A  contest  had  The  locomotive 
been  proposed  by  the  company  calling  for  locomo-  contest 
tives  of  not  more  than  six  tons  in  weight.    The  engines  that 

1  Walker,  J.  :  Report  to  the  Directors  of  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway 
(Philadelphia,  1831),  7. 


442  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Stephenson  was  then  building  for  the  collieries  weighed  about 
twelve  tons,  and  under  the  circumstances  Stephenson  did 
not  care  to  compete.  Mr.  Booth  proposed  to  modify  the 
existing  designs  of  the  locomotive  by  making  a  multi-tubular 
boiler,  and,  coming  to  Stephenson  with  this  suggestion,  of- 
fered to  combine  in  making  a  locomotive  for  the  competition. 
The  scheme  was  taken  up.  Robert  Stephenson  and  Mr. 
Booth  worked  on  the  locomotive,  while  the  father  was  busy 
on  the  engineering  problems  of  the  line.  The  "  Rocket "  em- 
bodied a  number  of  new  features:  the  multi-tubular  boiler, 
an  improved  and  perfected  steam  blast,  and  a  simplification 
of  the  arrangement  of  the  cylinders  and  driving-gear.  The 
engine  with  water  weighed  only  four  and  one  half  tons.  It 
was  finished  well  ahead  of  tune  and  tried  out  successfully  at 
Killingworth.  Four  engines  were  entered  for  the  trial.  Two 
of  them  never  really  performed  at  all;  the  third,  the  "Nov- 
elty," was  at  first  the  favorite  among  the  spectators,  but  it 
broke  down  shortly  and  the  "Rocket"  held  the  field  alone. 
The  A  speed  of  twelve  miles  an  hour  was  required  by 

"Rocket"  tne  conditions  of  the  contest.  The  "Rocket" 
attained  this  speed  on  its  first  try-out,  and  later  exceeded  it. 
Thirteen  tons  of  freight  were  hauled  thirty-five  miles  in  one 
hour  and  forty-eight  minutes,  including  stops  —  a  speed  of 
twenty-nine  miles  an  hour  was  attained.  Several  years  after- 
ward the  "Rocket"  was  driven  four  miles  hi  four  and  one  half 
minutes. 

The  first  train  to  run  the  whole  length  of  the  line  was  run 
from  Liverpool  to  Manchester  on  June  14,  1830.  The  trip 
was  made  hi  an  hour  and  a  half,  at  twenty-seven  miles  per 
hour.  The  road  was  formally  opened  to  traffic  September 
15,  1830.  The  promoters  had  expected  to  secure  four  hun- 
dred passengers  a  day,  but  an  average  of  twelve  hundred  was 
almost  immediately  reached.  The  commanding  success  of 
the  road  put  an  end  to  all  uncertainty  with  reference  to  the 
future  of  this  mode  of  transportation,  and  although  the  road 
is  not  really  the  first  to  be  built  its  opening  marks  the  real 
beginning  of  the  modern  railway. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        443 

II.  GROWTH  OP  THE  RAILWAY  SYSTEM:  1830-1846 

The  railway  was  not  at  once  recognized  as  an  independent 
form  of  investment,  although  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester 
line  paid  eight  or  nine  per  cent  dividends  from  the  outset. 
The  general  money  market  did  not  become  interested  in  rail- 
way shares  until  1843;  in  the  earlier  period,  railways  were 
financed  by  local  funds.  They  were  promoted  by  coal-own- 
ers or  merchants  who  were  primarily  concerned  with  the  de- 
velopment of  new  facilities  of  transportation  in  capital  for 
behalf  of  other  business  interests.  The  usual  "^^y8 
source  of  capital  was  the  mercantile  community  in  the  towns 
at  either  end  of  the  line;  the  Liverpool  and  Manchester  project 
was  typical  of  railway  projects  for  somewhat  more  than  a  dec- 
ade. The  development  of  railways  during  this  period  was 
dominated  by  local  interests,  and,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Great  Western  project,  the  lines  were  relatively  short  links 
which  did  not  in  any  case  afford  uninterrupted  communica- 
tion between  points  of  major  importance. 

Communication  between  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and 
London  was  controlled  by  four  separate  companies.  Traffic 
from  the  midland  cities,  Derby,  Nottingham,  ^conveniences 
Leeds,  and  intermediate  points,  was  served  by  °f  *e  short 
three  closely  related  lines,  which  secured  con- 
nection with  London  by  transfer  to  the  London  and  Birming- 
ham at  Rugby.  The  actual  inconvenience  was  not  as  great 
as  might  be  imagined,  for  provision  was  made  from  the  out- 
set for  the  joint  use  of  stations  and  in  some  cases  for  the  joint 
use  of  portions  of  track.  The  stations  at  Birmingham  and 
Derby  were  used  by  all  the  roads,  though  not  without  fric- 
tion. During  the  period  of  keenest  competition  between  the 
Birmingham  and  Derby  and  the  Midland  Counties  Road  a 
locomotive  belonging  to  the  Midland  Counties  Company 
was  " captured"  at  Derby  by  the  Birmingham  and  Derby: 
locomotives  were  shunted  onto  the  siding  in  front  and  behind 
the  "enemy  "  locomotive.  Attempts  were  made  also  to  deny 
passengers  full  facilities  hi  the  use  of  the  station,  but  the 
roads  were  obliged  by  the  courts  to  fulfill  all  their  engage- 


444  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ments  to  each  other.  The  most  important  instance  of  run- 
ning powers  is  afforded  by  the  Manchester  and  Birmingham; 
Provision  for  this  company  was  authorized  to  construct  a  line 
through  traffic  from  Manchester  to  Crewe,  traffic  from  Crewe 
to  Birmingham  being  handled  over  the  line  of  the  Grand 
Junction  Railway.  In  this  case  the  provision  was  an  out- 
come of  the  policy  of  Parliament  to  prevent  the  undue  dupli- 
cation of  facilities.  There  were  many  jealousies  among 
these  various  lines,  but  on  the  whole  the  common  interests 
prevailed  and  the  facilities  were  used  with  significant  refer- 
ence to  through  traffic  before  actual  amalgamation  took 
place.  Through  passenger  coaches  were  put  into  operation 
between  London  and  points  on  the  railroads  of  the  Midland 
lines  at  an  early  date,  and  the  complexities  of  the  division  of 
revenues  from  traffic  led  to  the  establishment  of  the  Railway 
Clearing-House  in  1842.  The  idea  was  suggested  by  an  audit 
clerk  on  the  London  and  Birmingham  system  after  the  anal- 
ogy of  the  London  Clearing-House.  As  originally  consti- 
tuted, the  Railway  Clearing-House  included  nine  companies. 
Although  the  roads  were  built  as  independent  units  they 
became  associated  in  systems  at  an  early  date.  The  group 
Early  affiiia-  of  lines  that  ultimately  became  the  London  and 
tions  North  Western  constituted  a  distinct  group  al- 

most from  the  outset.  The  Midland  Counties  lines  were 
closely  associated  with  the  London  and  Birmingham,  but 
their  position  was  somewhat  ambiguous,  sufficiently  dis- 
tinct to  make  them  a  fairly  separate  group  from  the  outset. 
This  group  of  lines  was  an  outgrowth  from  a  short  coal  road 
between  Leicester  and  Swannington.  This  little  road  was 
built  in  1832  in  order  to  develop  coal  properties  at  Swan- 
nington, the  facilities  of  the  railway  enabling  these  mines  to 
compete  on  more  than  even  terms  with  the  mines  of  the  Ere- 
wash  Valley  from  which  Leicester  had  formerly  been  sup- 
plied by  water  transport.  The  Leicester  and  Swannington 
line  stirred  the  coal-owners  of  the  Erewash  Valley  to  activ- 
ity. A  road  was  projected  to  afford  rail  transportation  for 
their  coal,  but  the  suggestions  of  certain  London  capitalists 
resulted  in  the  expansion  of  the  original  scheme.  The  line 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY 


445 


was  finally  built  to  connect  Derby  and  Nottingham  with 
Rugby  by  way  of  Leicester;  the  extension  to  Rugby  gave  the 
region  a  connection  with  London.  The  project  to  develop 
the  mines  of  the  Erewash  Valley  was  abandoned  because  of  a 


proposed  line  from  Derby  to  Leeds,  so  the  scheme  that  had 
started  as  project  for  a  coal  road  became  the  typical  scheme 
for  connections  between  manufacturing  towns.  The  North 


446  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Midland,  between  Derby  and  Leeds,  and  the  Birmingham 
and  Derby  were  chartered  and  built  at  about  the  same  time. 
For  a  short  period  the  two  roads  connecting  Derby  with  the 
London  and  Birmingham  engaged  in  severe  competition  for 
the  traffic  from  Leeds.  Preferential  rates  were  made  by  the 
Birmingham  and  Derby  in  favor  of  through  traffic,  but  these 
rates  were  disallowed  by  the  courts  on  suit  by  the  Midland 
Counties  line.  A  few  months  later  an  agreement  was  made 
The  first  to  amalgamate  all  three  lines,  and  in  1844  Par- 

amalgamations  liamentary  sanction  was  obtained  for  the  forma- 
tion of  the  Midland  Railway.  This  was  the  nucleus  of  the 
first  of  the  modern  railway  systems  to  be  formed  by  amalga- 
mation. The  component  parts  of  the  London  and  North 
Western  were  united  in  1846. 

The  development  of  the  Great  Western  thus  brought 
into  existence  three  of  the  great  companies  which  were  later 
The  Great  to  compete  for  the  London-Liverpool  traffic, 
western  ijfa  Great  Western,  however,  was  not  the  re- 

sult of  amalgamations.  It  was  somewhat  similar  to  the 
other  projects  in  so  far  as  it  was  a  scheme  for  connecting  Lon- 
don and  Bristol,  but  the  project  really  went  far  beyond  the 
limits  of  a  scheme  to  serve  purely  local  interests.  This  road 
was  surveyed  by  Brunei  and  his  influence  appears  not  only 
in  certain  technical  details  of  engineering,  but  also  in  the 
general  conception  of  the  road.  In  a  report  made  to  the  com- 
pany in  1838,  Brunei  sketched  the  destiny  of  the  Great 
Western. 

The  Great  Western  Railroad  [he  says]  broke  ground  in  an  en- 
tirely new  district,  in  which  railroads  were  unknown.  At  present, 
it  commands  this  district,  and  has  already  sent  forth  branches 
which  embrace  nearly  all  that  can  belong  to  it,  and  it  will  be  the 
fault  of  the  company  if  it  does  not  effectually  and  permanently  se- 
cure to  itself  the  whole  trade  of  this  portion  of  England,  with  that 
of  South  Wales,  and  the  South  of  Ireland:  not  by  a  forced  monop- 
oly, which  could  never  long  resist  the  wants  of  the  public,  but  by 
such  attention  to  these  wants  as  shall  render  any  competition  un- 
necessary and  hopeless.  Such  is  the  position  of  the  Great  Western 
Railway.  It  could  have  no  connection  with  any  other  of  the  main 
lines,  and  the  principal  branches  likely  to  be  made  were  well  con- 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        447 

sidered,  and  almost  formed  part  of  the  original  plan,  nor  can  these 
be  dependent  upon  any  other  existing  lines  for  the  traffic  which 
they  will  bring  to  the  main  trunk.1 

The  Great  Western  was  thus  conceived  as  a  complete  sys- 
tem that  should  primarily  depend  upon  a  monopoly  of  traffic 
in  an  entire  region.  It  was  certainly  the  first  of  the  railways 
to  be  planned  in  the  modern  spirit,  with  a  view  to  what  we 
may  call  commercial  strategy.  The  ultimate  extensions  to 
Oxford  and  Liverpool  were  not  foreseen  by  Brunei,  but  the 
domination  of  the  west  of  England  was  part  of 
the  plan.  The  notion  that  the  road  was  to  be 
somewhat  isolated  induced  Brunei  to  modify  in  some  details 
the  character  of  the  engineering  work.  The  gauge  of  the  roads 
in  the  north,  built  by  Stephenson,  or  under  the  influence  of 
his  ideas,  was  the  four-foot-eight-and-one-half-inch  gauge 
that  had  been  taken  from  the  tram  wagons  of  the  colliery 
lines.  Brunei  felt  that  this  gauge  was  not  well  adapted  to 
the  needs  of  a  railway.  There  was  too  little  room  between 
the  wheels  for  a  convenient  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  the 
locomotive,  and  there  was  not  sufficient  stability  to  make  high 
speeds  as  easy  of  attainment.  He  therefore  recommended 
a  seven-foot  gauge,  confident  that  the  slight  additional  ex- 
pense involved  in  laying  the  roadbed  would  be  recovered  in 
economies  of  operation.  It  was  difficult  to  secure  Parliamen- 
tary authority  for  the  gauge,  and  the  charter  as  finally  ap- 
proved omitted  all  reference  to  the  gauge.  The  policy  was 
defended  to  the  stockholders  by  the  report  cited  above, 
and  for  a  considerable  period  the  argument  proved  to  be 
sound.  The  development  of  contacts  with  the  roads  of 
the  London-Liverpool  traffic  region,  however,  rendered  the 
difference  in  the  gauge  unfortunate.  The  Great  Western 
began  to  adapt  its  line  to  the  northern  gauge  at  an  early 
date,  at  first  by  adding  a  third  rail  so  that  both  gauges 
could  be  used,  latterly  by  a  complete  abandonment  of  the 
broad  gauge.  It  must  be  confessed  that  Brunei's  contentions 
were  technically  sound:  there  were  advantages  hi  the  broad 

1  Brunei,  L:  The  Life  of  I.  K.  Brunei  (London,  1870),  105. 


448  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

gauge,  but  it  was  introduced  too  late  to  be  adopted  generally 
and  uniformity  proved  to  be  more  important  than  the  highest 
possible  technical  efficiency. 

The  development  of  roads  up  to  1846  was  primarily 
non-competitive.  Such  episodes  of  competitive  practices  as 
appeared  were  incidental  to  the  formation  of  the  systems 
that  become  the  basis  of  the  keen  struggles  of  the  fifties. 
It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  early  period  is  purely  formative, 
dominated  by  the  actual  building  of  the  primary  trunk  lines 
and  only  incidentally  affected  by  considerations  of  high 
strategy  and  politics. 

III.  THE  RISE  OF  COMPETITION:  1846-1873 

Some  portions  of  England  do  not  afford  sufficient  traffic 
to  offer  opportunity  to  more  than  one  railway  system,  so 
that  these  regions  have  been  monopolized  by  particular  lines 
competitive  from  the  outseti  The  eastern  counties  and  the 
traffic  southwest  are  both  essentially  non-competitive 

regions.  The  density  of  traffic  hi  the  London-Liverpool 
district  and  the  traffic  between  London  and  Scotland  led 
to  competition  as  soon  as  the  railway  network  began  to  ap- 
proach its  ultimate  form.  Lines  built  for  local  purposes  pos- 
sessed significance  from  the  point  of  view  of  through  traffic, 
so  that  competition  emerged  where  none  was  originally 
planned.  The  history  of  the  lines  engaged  in  the  competitive 
struggle  involves  so  many  matters  of  general  policy  that  it 
overshadows  for  the  general  student  the  story  of  the  other 
lines  whose  development  is  primarily  interesting  from  the 
technical  incidents  of  the  engineering  problems  involved. 
The  economist  is  concerned  with  those  aspects  of  the  de- 
velopment of  the  railway  network  that  throw  light  upon 
the  relations  between  the  railways,  the  traders,  and  the 
public. 

The  first  great  struggle  between  railways  was  the  outcome 

com  letion  of     °*  ^e  completi°n  of  two  routes  to  Scotland, 
the  scotch         The  east  coast  route  was  first  developed  in  its 
northerly  section.    As  early  as  1835-36,  mer- 
chants of  York,  led  by  George  Hudson,  projected  lines  to 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        449 

connect  York  with  the  Midland  lines  at  Leeds  and  other 
lines  to  afford  a  Scottish  connection.  The  section  between 
York  and  Leeds  was  soon  completed  and  the  rails  were  ex- 
tended northward  by  easy  stages.  In  1841  the  rails  stopped 
at  Darlington :  extension  to  Newcastle  was  authorized  in  the 
following  year  and  opened  in  1846.  The  Newcastle-Ber- 
wick section  was  opened  in  October,  1847;  and  as  Scotch 
companies  had  been  at  work  on  the  Edinburgh  end  since 
1844,  it  was  possible  to  offer  through  service  from  London 
to  Edinburgh.  The  trip  was  made  in  thirteen  hours  and 
ten  minutes;  an  all-rail  route  except  for  the  gap  caused  by 
the  delay  in  the  completion  of  the  bridge  over  the  Tyne  at 
Newcastle.  Meanwhile  the  London  and  North  Western  in- 
terests had  been  at  work  on  a  west  coast  route,  via  Lan- 
caster and  Carlisle,  which  was  finally  opened  for  traffic  in 
February,  1848.  The  first  trains  on  this  route  ran  on  a 
fifteen-and-one-half-hour  schedule,  but  by  July  the  trains 
were  making  the  journey  to  Edinburgh  in  twelve  hours.  In 
the  fall  the  Tyne  bridge  was  completed,  but  the  east  coast 
service  was  hampered  by  the  dependence  upon  the  London 
and  North  Western  for  connections  between  Rugby  and 
London,  and  in  this  service  there  were  discriminations  in 
favor  of  the  passengers  and  freight  that  were  booked  for 
Scotch  points  via  the  west  coast  route.  The  Midland  lines 
were  not  likely  to  feel  any  conflict  of  interests  with  the 
Yorkshire  lines. 

The  difficulties  that  were  experienced  by  the  Yorkshire 
lines  in  securing  an  adequate  London  connection  after  1848, 
gave  an  entirely  different  aspect  to  the  various  London  and 
projects  that  were  being  considered  for  a  direct  York 
connection  between  York  and  London.  Schemes  for  such  a 
line  had  been  projected  after  a  fashion  as  early  as  1833; 
surveys  were  made  for  a  line  to  be  called  the  Grand  Northern, 
with  a  main  line  from  London  to  York  via  Cambridge  and 
Gainsborough.  Other  schemes  followed  in  close  succession 
for  local  and  through  lines,  but  all  these  early  schemes  failed 
because  of  the  lukewarm  support  given  by  the  merchants  of 
York.  They  felt  that  the  main  point  was  to  get  some  rail 


450  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

connection  with  London  even  if  it  were  not  direct,  and,  upon 
the  development  of  the  North  Midland  project,  they  were 
satisfied  to  build  a  link  down  to  Leeds.  Thus  for  a  period 
of  years,  roughly  1835-45,  the  projects  for  direct  connection 
between  York  and  London  were  promoted  almost  exclu- 
sively by  the  residents  of  various  Lincolnshire  towns  that 
were  still  without  any  rail  connections;  local  interests  were 
advanced  for  the  building  of  a  line  that  was  most  important 
with  reference  to  through  traffic.  The  local  capitalists  were 
not  able  to  secure  adequate  funds  to  push  the  project 
through,  and  thus  a  project  which  was  initiated  quite  early 
was  late  in  realization.  In  1844  Hudson  and  the  Midland 
interests  went  so  far  as  to  support  some  competing  proj- 
ects for  roads  in  Lincolnshire  with  the  express  purpose  of 
defeating  or  at  least  delaying  the  building  of  any  direct 
London- York  line. 

The  attitude  of  these  capitalists  must  have  changed  in  the 
course  of  the  long  Paliamentary  contests  that  grew  out  of 
the  great  mass  of  London- York  projects  deposited  in  1844. 
They  foresaw  the  conditions  that  became  actual  by  1848,  and 
The  Great  became  interested  in  the  early  completion  of  a 
Northern  through  line  from  London  to  York.  After  rec- 
ord-breaking hearings,  one  of  the  through  projects  was  ap- 
proved by  the  Commons,  and,  after  consolidation  with 
another  similar  project,  was  finally  authorized  as  the  Great 
Northern  Railway  in  June,  1846.  Portions  of  the  line  were 
opened  for  traffic  in  1850,  but  negotiations  were  begun  some- 
what earlier  with  reference  to  rates  between  competing  points. 

The  London  and  North  Western,  assisted  by  the  Midland 
as  a  subservient  ally,  endeavored  to  exclude  the  Great 
Northern  from  all  possible  traffic  and  proposed  arrangements 
Hostile  which  would  afford  minimum  facilities  for  the 

measures  handling  of  such  traffic  as  involved  joint  activ- 
ity. Branches  were  built  into  Great  Northern  territory,  the 
Scotch  companies  associated  with  the  London  and  North 
Western  were  persuaded  to  refuse  traffic  and  connections, 
and  attempts  were  made  to  induce  the  local  east  and  west 
lines  to  boycott  the  new  road.  These  hostile  measures  were 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        451 

carried  to  extraordinary  lengths:  the  Manchester,  Sheffield, 
and  Lincolnshire  refused  to  exchange  traffic  at  Retford,  and 
at  Grimsby  placed  blocks  on  the  rails  to  prevent  the  Great 
Northern  from  using  its  running  powers.  At  Retford,  sta- 
tion authorities  refused  to  supply  water  to  the  locomotives 
of  the  Great  Northern.  Time-tables  were  arranged  with  a 
view  to  producing  a  maximum  degree  of  inconvenience  to 
passengers  using  the  new  line.  The  opening  of  increased 
portions  of  the  Great  Northern  line  produced  a  wild  rate  war 
among  the  roads  seeking  passengers  to  the  Exhibition  of 
1851:  round-trip  fares  from  the  West  Riding  to  London  fell 
from  fifteen  shillings  to  ten,  and  then  to  five  shillings.  Finally, 
the  Great  Northern  agent  at  Leeds  declared  that  the  Great 
Northern  fare  would  be  sixpence  less  than  any  fare  declared 
by  any  other  road. 

This  rate  war  was  proceeding  simultaneously  with  ne- 
gotiations among  the  roads  for  a  division  of  traffic  and  an 
agreement  as  to  rates.  The  general  principle  of  a  traffic 
pool  had  been  assumed  at  the  outset,  and  it  was  The  Gladstone 
equally  clear  that  there  must  be  rate  agreements,  award 
but  matters  of  detail  proved  such  an  obstacle  that  it  was 
necessary  to  call  in  as  arbitrator  the  then  President  of  the 
Board  of  Trade,  W.  E.  Gladstone.  The  London  and  North 
Western  had  originally  proposed  a  division  of  traffic  on  the 
basis  of  traffic  then  carried:  the  Great  Northern  wished  the 
award  to  be  based  on  its  capacity  to  handle  traffic  when  all 
its  facilities  should  be  complete.  The  award  finally  made 
was  based  upon  somewhat  arbitrary  percentages,  the  Great 
Northern  being  awarded  sixty-three  per  cent  of  the  traffic 
of  the  most  intensely  disputed  area  —  Lincolnshire.  This 
Gladstone  award  covered  only  the  traffic  south  of  York. 
The  Scotch  traffic  had  caused  somewhat  less  trouble  so  that 
the  roads  had  reached  an  agreement  privately  in  March,  1851 . 
The  arrangement  involved  eight  companies  and  is  therefore 
known  as  the  "Octuple  Agreement":  the  com- 
panics  included  were  the  London  and  North 
Western,  the  Lancaster  and  Carlisle,  and  the  Caledonian, 
constituting  the  west  coast  group;  the  North  British,  the 


452  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

York,  Newcastle  and  Berwick,  the  York  and  North  Mid- 
land, and  the  Great  Northern,  constituting  the  east  coast 
route;  and  the  Midland,  which  at  this  tune  was  hardly  more 
that  a  connecting  link  between  the  two  great  competitive 
systems. 

The  Octuple  Agreement  was  relatively  unfavorable  to  the 
Great  Northern;  it  received  no  share  in  the  traffic  of  Glas- 
gow, Perth,  and  Ab.erdeen,  and  only  an  unsatisfactory  share 
of  the  traffic  with  Edinburgh,  Berwick,  and  Newcastle. 
These  arrangements  were  distinctly  less  amiable  than  the 
arrangements  between  the  London  and  North  Western  and 
the  Great  Western  with  reference  to  competitive  traffic.  In 
those  negotiations  provision  was  made  for  charging  equal 
rates  based  on  the  shortest  or  most  advantageous  route;  in 
dealing  with  the  Great  Northern  the  directors  of  the  Lon- 
don and  North  Western  were  unwilling  to  recognize  the  new 
line  as  an  equal,  and  the  agreements  were  merely  a  kind  of 
truce  which  did  not  put  an  end  to  the  attempt  to  destroy 
the  traffic  of  the  Great  Northern.  The  London  and  North 
Western  urged  passengers  to  buy  tickets  to  intermediate 
points  and  from  such  places  to  London,  rates  being  arranged 
to  reduce  the  total  fare  below  the  level  provided 

A    f flf  A   WflT 

for  in  the  award.  There  was  thus  little  qualifi- 
cation of  competition  in  this  district  even  during  the  lim- 
ited period  of  these  agreements.  The  contest  for  domina- 
tion of  the  disputed  territory  continued  without  serious 
interruption.  The  actual  rate  war,  however,  was  a  sub- 
ordinate feature  of  the  struggle  in  the  years  immediately 
following  the  agreements. 

The  primary  object  of  both  companies  was  to  secure  more 
complete  control  of  the  two  independent  lines  serving 
Alliance  a»d  Lincolnshire  and  the  West  Riding.  Both  of 
counter-alliance  these  lineSj  the  Manchester,  Sheffield,  and  Lin- 
colnshire, and  the  Midland  had  been  satellites  of  the  Lon- 
don and  North  Western,  but  the  Great  Northern  did  not 
give  up  hope  of  forming  an  alliance  with  them.  Overtures 
were  made  to  the  Midland  directors  in  May,  1852,  proposing 
amalgamation  with  the  Great  Northern.  The  moment  was 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY         453 

favorable,  for  although  there  had  been  a  similar  proposal 
from  the  London  and  North  Western,  proceedings  from  that 
quarter  had  become  involved  in  difficulties  as  to  the  details 


of  the  exchange  of  securities.  The  Midland  directors  were 
less  favorable  to  the  London  and  North  Western  alliance 
than  they  had  ever  been,  and  it  is  barely  possible  that  the 
hopes  of  the  Great  Northern  might  have  been  realized  if 


454  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

there  had  been  some  little  difference  in  the  timing  of  the 
various  propositions.  The  London  and  North  Western, 
however,  succeeded  in  winning  the  Midland  over  to  its  old 
allegiance  and  in  1853  application  was  made  to  Parliament 
for  authority  to  amalgamate  the  two  systems. 

This  proposal  involved  a  truly  momentous  decision.  If 
the  amalgamation  were  permitted,  the  London  and  North 
Western  with  its  allies  in  Scotland  would  have  controlled  all 
Proposals  for  the  Liverpool-London  traffic,  the  traffic  of  the 
amalgamations  midlands,  and  would  have  dominated  the  Scotch 
traffic.  The  Caledonian  proposed  to  amalgamate  with  the 
Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  so  that  the  east  coast  companies 
would  have  had  little  chance  to  secure  any  traffic  beyond  Edin- 
burgh. These  proposals  raised  the  issue  between  the  definite 
acceptance  of  the  principle  of  monopoly  and  application  of 
the  principle  of  competition  to  railways  in  the  regions  of  great- 
est traffic  density.  It  was  acknowledged  by  all  that  there 
were  regions  in  which  railways  must  needs  possess  a  monop- 
oly, but  this  proposal  of  a  substantial  monopoly  of  the  "traffic 
of  the  greater  portion  of  the  island  could  not  be  accepted  as 
a  matter  of  course. 

The  whole  matter  was  canvassed  by  a  committee  of  the 
House  of  Commons  of  which  Mr.  Card  well  was  chairman 
and  the  decision  was  in  favor  of  competition  among  the  rail- 
Maintenance  of  ways.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  decision 
competition  exercised  an  important  influence  upon  the  de- 
velopment of  the  railway  network  of  Great  Britain,  and  it 
may  be  that  the  decision  was  unwise,  but  if  the  choice 
between  monopoly  and  competition  is  to  be  criticized  the 
matter  should  be  considered  in  all  its  bearings  and  due  atten- 
tion given  to  the  situation  in  1853  as  well  as  to  the  effect  of 
the  decision  upon  subsequent  railway-building.  The  ulti- 
mate effect  of  the  decision  was  the  creation  of  the  extensions 
of  the  Midland  system  to  London  and  to  Scotland.  The 
Midland  could  not  exist  as  an  independent  line  between 
the  London  and  North  Western  on  one  side  and  the  Great 
Northern  on  the  other  side.  A  third  competitive  system 
was  thus  created  by  reason  of  the  policy  of  Parliament. 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        455 

The  accomplished  result  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  the 
railway  map  for  1885;  the  Midland  system  developed  con- 
nections with  London,  via  Bedford  and  St.  Albans;  with 


Liverpool,  via  Manchester;  with  Scotland,  via  Settle,  Ap- 
pleby,  and  Carlisle.  The  extension  to  Bristol  that  was 
made  in  the  early  period  was  further  developed  by  the  line 
to  Swansea.  In  its  final  form  the  Midland  system  possessed 


456  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

outlets  to  important  points  on  all  coasts  and  thus  entered 
into  competition  with  all  the  great  railway  systems. 

The  accomplishment  of  these  results  was  difficult.  When 
the  proposed  amalgamation  of  1853  was  denied  by  Parlia- 
ment the  two  companies  contented  themselves  with  a  secret 
Growth  of  the  joint-purse  agreement  which  was  not  discovered 
Midland  Rail-  until  1857.  The  officials  of  the  Great  North- 

WflV 

ern  discovered  it  unexpectedly  and  used  their 
knowledge  to  put  an  end  to  the  alliance  between  the  London 
and  North  Western  and  the  Midland.  The  extension  from 
Leicester  to  Hitchin  via  Bedford  was  opened  hi  that  year  so 
that  a  rapprochement  with  the  Great  Northern  was  easy 
and  natural.  After  the  opening  of  this  line  the  Midland 
enjoyed  a  strategic  position  between  the  rival  companies 
on  either  side;  it  could  divert  considerable  masses  of  traffic 
to  either  road,  and  by  skillful  use  of  this  possibility  the  Mid- 
land was  able  to  maintain  itself  through  the  most  trying 
period  of  its  existence.  Both  roads  discriminated  against 
the  London  traffic  from  the  Midland,  but  each  could  be 
played  off  against  the  other  so  readily  that  neither  was  able 
to  work  serious  injury  to  the  Midland.  Arrangement  was 
made  for  the  Midland  to  use  the  tracks  of  the  Great  Northern 
between  Hitchin  and  London,  so  that  Midland  trains  began 
to  operate  directly  to  London  in  1858,  though  the  traffic  was 
frequently  obstructed  by  discreetly  contrived  difficulties 
in  the  yards  and  terminals.  Work  on  an  independent  en- 
trance to  London  was  begun  in  1860,  but  the  terminal  at 
St.  Pancras  and  the  line  to  Bedford  were  not  completed  until 
1869.  The  Scotch  connections  were  still  slower  in  develop- 
ment. The  line  to  Carlisle  was  opened  for  freight  in  August, 
1875.  The  lines  in  Scotland  were  not  authorized  until  after 
the  opening  of  the  Carlisle  line  and  were  completed  consider- 
ably later. 

The  gradual  rise  of  the  Midland  as  a  competing  trunk  line 
to  Liverpool  and  the  north  made  the  competitive  struggle 
among  the  roads  more  complex  and  bitter.  The  rivalry 
between  the  Great  Northern  and  the  London  and  North 
Western  was  not  diminished,  though  at  tunes  both  roads 


THE  DEVELOPMENT  OF  THE  RAILWAY        457 

combined  to  keep  the  Midland  out  of  various  towns;  the 
annals  of  these  years  thus  constitute  an  important  chapter 
in  the  history  of  competitive  railroading. 

The  position  of  the  Midland  made  it  difficult  to  com- 
pete on  even  terms  for  passenger  traffic,  so  the  road  finally 
adopted  an  entirely  new  policy  toward  third-class  pas- 
sengers which  ultimately  revolutionized  condi-  Third-class 
tions  throughout  the  kingdom.  The  third-class  Passensers 
passenger  had  not  been  encouraged.  Third-class  passage 
practically  amounted  to  the  privilege  of  riding  in  an  open 
flat-car  without  seats,  on  and  among  such  baggage  as 
might  happen  to  be  thrown  into  the  car.  The.  schedule  of 
the  train  was  adapted  to  the  character  of  this  mixed  traffic, 
and,  as  may  be  supposed,  the  conditions  of  the  journey  were 
determined  by  the  requirements  of  collecting  and  handling 
freight.  A  journey  that  involved  no  changes  required  at 
least  twice  the  length  of  tune  that  was  necessary  for  the 
first-  and  second-class  passengers,  and  if  it  became  necessary 
to  make  connections  with  other  trains  the  delays  at  junctions 
might  be  prolonged  indefinitely.  In  short,  third-class  passage 
was  passenger  service  only  hi  respect  to  the  fact  that  humans 
were  carried;  the  service  was  precisely  the  same  service  that 
was  rendered  to  cattle  and  miscellaneous  freight.  In  1844, 
after  Parliamentary  inquiry,  the  roads  were  required  to  run 
a  certain  number  of  third-class  trains  at  a  fare  of  a  penny  a 
mile.  This  afforded  some  guarantee  that  there  would  be 
trains  at  reasonable  hours,  but  there  was  no  improvement 
in  the  accommodations. 

It  was  thus  a  revolutionary  step  when  the  Midland,  hi 
1872,  announced  that  third-class  coaches  would  be  carried 
on  all  trains  beginning  April  1.    This  policy  proved  to  be 
so  successful  that  second  class  was  abolished  in  The  Midland 
1874,  first  and  second  classes  being  combined  at  *°Ucy 
fares  which  represented  a  reduction  on  the  old  first-class 
rates.     These  changes  were  accompanied  by  improvements 
in  the  character  of  accommodations  provided  for  the  third 
class,  and  the  differences  that  have  come  to  exist  between 
conditions  in  England  and  the  Continental  railways  are 


458  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

due  to  this  departure  of  the  Midland  Railway.  The  other 
roads  were  forced  to  adopt  the  new  policy,  though  it  was 
many  years  before  the  full  results  were  embodied  in  the  prac- 
tice of  all  the  railways. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 
THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS 

FOREIGN  writers  have  frequently  criticized  the  procedure 
followed  in  England  in  the  grant  of  railway  charters  on  the 
grounds  of  extravagant  expenditure  in  legal  fees  Parliamentary 
and  in  preliminary  surveys.     These  charges  un-  «p*nditn» 
doubtedly  increased  the  costs  of  constructing  railways  in 
Great  Britain  and  in  part  explain  the  high  costs  of  construc- 
tion relatively  to  other  countries.     One  of  the  reviews  pub- 
lished in  1849  comparative  figures  of  costs  of  construction 
which  indicate  the  divergence  among  the  various  countries: 

Costs  of  Railroads  per  mile 1 

United  States £5,000 

Prussia 10,000 

Austria 11,300 

Small  German  States 19,000 

Great  Britain  (selected  lines) 56,915 

The  figures  for  the  British  railways  are  an  average  for  ten 
lines  that  must  be  fairly  representative.  One  railroad,  the 
Blackwall  Railroad,  cost  £289,000  per  mile,  but  this  ex- 
penditure was  due  largely  to  the  great  difficulty  of  secur- 
ing entrance  to  a  populous  city.  Parliamentary  expenses 
alone  averaged  between  £1000  and  £6000  per  mile,  about  as 
much  as  the  total  cost  hi  the  United  States.  Land  involved 
an  average  expenditure  of  £10,000  or  £15,000.  The  cost 
of  the  charter  and  the  land  thus  exceeded  the  costs  of  the 
entire  investment  in  the  Central  European  states. 

Such  expenditure  can  easily  be  made  to  seem  extravagant, 
but  one  must  be  cautious  in  passing  judgment  upon  these 
facts.    When  all  due  allowance  has  been  made  for  these 
preliminary  expenditures  the  actual  outlay  on  causes  of 
the  line  is  still  far  greater  than  the  outlay  in  the  high  costs 
European  states  and  hi  America.  The  British  lines  were  more 

»  North  British  Review  (1849),  684. 


460  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

carefully  graded  and  more  solidly  built  than  most  lines  in 
other  countries.  The  principles  of  George  Stephenson  were 
more  thoroughly  carried  out  in  Great  Britain,  partly  per- 
haps because  they  were  better  understood,  partly  no  doubt 
because  there  was  promise  of  traffic  that  justified  such  expen- 
diture. The  history  of  railroads  in  England  differs  from  the 
history  of  roads  hi  other  countries  in  many  details  because 
there  was  no  need  to  stimulate  traffic.  In  most  parts  of 
Great  Britain  there  was  such  need  of  the  railways  that  even 
the  more  ambitious  undertakings  were  able  to  earn  hand- 
some profits  from  the  outset.  The  actual  earnings  per  mile 
were  probably  higher  in  the  early  decades  than  they  were 
later  when  the  low  earnings  of  feeders  reduced  the  average. 
British  railways  were  not  speculative  ventures  as  they  were 
in  many  countries;  a  charter  was  not  merely  a  hope,  but  a 
valuable  franchise.  The  extraordinary  contests  in  Parlia- 
ment cannot  be  understood  if  this  fact  is  not  keenly  appre- 
ciated, and  the  elaborate  procedure  would  have  been  wholly 
unnecessary  if  the  rights  involved  had  been  less  important. 

At  the  same  tune  one  must  realize  that  the  railroads  were 
not  subjected  to  any  special  procedure  in  obtaining  charters. 
Parliamentary  procedure  on  canal  bills,  turnpike  bills,  en- 
closures, railroads,  and  public  utilities  was  a 
direct  outcome  of  the  deep  regard  of  eighteenth- 
century  English  thought  for  property  rights  and  vested 
interests  of  all  kinds:  It  was  a  fixed  principle  of  English 
legislation  that  no  one  should  be  deprived  of  his  property 
without  due  process  of  law.  Applications  for  privileges 
which  might  interfere  with  the  property  rights  of  others 
were  thus  the  subject  of  a  hearing  before  they  were  acted 
upon.  The  details  of  the  procedure  in  Parliament  developed 
rapidly  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  and  had 
begun  to  assume  definite  form  when  railway  projects  came 
before  the  House. 

The  project  passed  through  two  distinct  stages,  one  prior 
to  the  introduction  of  a  bill,  one  subsequent  to  the  intro- 
duction of  the  project  into  Parliament  as  a  bill.  Detailed 
surveys  were  required  to  be  deposited  at  the  Board  of  Trade 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS       461 

not  later  than  the  February  preceding  the  session  in  which 
the  bill  was  to  be  introduced.  Notices  were  Parliamentary 
required  to  be  sent  to  all  landowners  affected.  Procedure 
After  1845  the  Board  of  Trade  made  report  on  the  projects 
submitted.  A  petition  was  then  submitted  to  the  House 
which  really  contained  the  text  of  the  bill  or  charter.  This 
was  immediately  referred  to  the  Standing  Orders  Commit- 
tee, a  permanent  committee  of  the  House  of  Commons  whose 
duty  it  was  to  ascertain  if  all  preliminary  requirements  had 
been  complied  with  and  to  secure  from  the  promoters  suf- 
ficient evidence  of  the  significance  of  the  project  to  warrant 
detailed  examination  of  the  scheme.  This  committee  held 
a  hearing,  but  in  theory  it  was  merely  a  cross-examination  of 
the  promoters  and  their  witnesses.  At  tunes  members  of  the 
committee  who  were  hostile  to  the  project  called  witnesses 
to  testify  against  the  project,  though  the  hearing  was  not 
presumed  to  be  contentious.  If  the  Standing  Orders  Com- 
mittee approved  the  preamble  of  the  petition  a  bill  was  in- 
troduced embodying  the  petition  presented  to  the  House. 

The  bill  then  followed  the  usual  Parliamentary  course: 
three  readings  in  each  House,  together  with  a  careful  scrutiny 
of  the  details  of  the  measure  in  small  committees  of  each 
House.  There  was  no  debate  in  either  House  hi  the  ordinaiy 
sense  of  the  term  debate;  actual  consideration  of  the  bill 
was  delegated  to  the  small  committees  which  followed  a 
quasi- judicial  procedure.  The  promoters  were  under  obli- 
gation to  prove  the  expediency  of  their  project,  and  all  whose 
property  rights  were  affected  might  come  before  the  com- 
mittee, personally  or  through  counsel,  to  object.  These 
hearings  were  the  chief  source  of  expense.  At  times  they 
became  unduly  contentious. 

The  hearings  on  the  bills  concerned  with  London  to  York 
projects  in  1845  lasted  seventy  days.     Existing  railroads 
whose  traffic  might  be  affected  had  a  right  to  appear  before 
the  committees,  so  that  the  struggle  between  Hearin  s 
roads  began  at  times  before  the  projected  com- 
peting lines  were  chartered.    The  extensive  use  of  running 
powers  hi  the  early  decades  of  English  railway  history  was 


462  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  outcome  of  the  unwillingness  of  these  committees  to  ap- 
prove projects  that  involved  the  construction  of  parallel  lines. 
In  this  as  in  many  other  ways  these  committees  exerted  a 
notable  influence  upon  the  development  of  railroads.  It  is 
obviously  impossible  to  pass  any  general  judgment  upon  the 
quality  of  work  done  by  these  committees,  but  it  would 
seem  that  there  is  abundant  reason  to  believe  that  their  work 
was  not  without  public  advantage.  There  was  at  least  some 
conscientious  effort  to  examine  these  schemes  with  refer- 
ence to  the  interest  of  the  public  and  of  parties  directly 
affected.  Whether  the  results  were  commensurate  with  the 
cost  or  not  can  hardly  be  determined. 

The  charters  granted  to  railways  were  modeled  on  the  turn- 
pike and  canal  charters  of  the  late  eighteenth  century.  The 
general  form  of  the  charter  was  established  in  1801  by  the 
Early  charters  charter  granted  to  the  Wandsworth  and  Croy- 
don  Railway,  a  tram  line  designed  to  carry 
heavy  freight.  The  organization  of  the  company  was  pro- 
vided for;  compensation  to  landowners  stated;  maximum 
tolls  listed.  These  tolls  were  presumed  to  be  paid  for  the 
privilege  of  hauling  goods  on  the  line  by  wagons  and 
horses  belonging  to  private  individuals.  The  line  was 
deemed  to  be  a  kind  of  turnpike,  a  common  way  provided 
by  the  company  for  the  use  of  individuals.  This  concep- 
tion of  the  railway  persisted  for  a  long  tune.  The  Stockton 
and  Darlington,  for  instance,  made  no  provision  for  the 
carriage  of  passengers.  The  right  was  leased  to  an  individ- 
ual who  furnished  the  coaches  and  horses.  The  Liverpool 
and  Manchester  line  was  operated  by  the  company  exclu- 
sively, and  it  was  soon  recognized  that  the  railroad  was 
"by  nature  a  monopoly."  This  phrase  meant  that  the  com- 
pany must  necessarily  exercise  exclusive  control  of  all  roll- 
ing stock  on  the  line;  it  was  an  attempt  to  express  the 
difference  between  railways  and  the  turnpikes  and  canals. 
But  no  changes  were  made  in  the  provisions  of  railway  char- 
ters denning  the  tolls  to  be  charged.  Despite  the  evident 
intention  of  Parliament  to  regulate  charges,  the  railways 
were  really  free  to  make  such  rates  as  they  pleased. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS       463 

The  desirability  of  a  definite  policy  toward  the  roads  was 
clearly  seen  by  a  few  individuals  almost  at  the  outset.  The 
chief  advocate  of  systematic  regulation  was  Regulation 
James  Morrison,  a  member  of  Parliament  with-  Pr°p°sed 
out  official  position.  In  the  session  of  1836  he  brought  in 
a  bill  proposing  that  all  railway  charters  should  be  subject  to 
revision  or  withdrawal  within  a  stated  term  of  years,  and 
that  each  company  should  make  a  return  to  the  Board  of 
Trade  each  year,  showing  the  gross  income,  the  expenditures, 
and  the  passengers  and  freight  carried.  Even  this  moderate 
proposal  seemed  unwise  to  the  majority  of  the  House  and 
opposition  was  so  general  that  the  bill  was  withdrawn  before 
there  had  been  any  serious  debate.  In  1838  provision  was 
made  for  the  conveyance  of  mail  by  the  railways  at  reason- 
able charges;  some  power  of  compulsion  was  given  the  Gov- 
ernment. Finally,  in  1840,  a  committee  was  appointed  to 
consider  the  entire  question  of  legislative  policy.  The  ten- 
dencies of  the  time  were  recognized,  the  mistakes  of  the  past 
admitted,  but  no  substantive  measure  of  control  was  pro- 
posed. The  committee  recommended  that  steps  be  taken 
to  insure  the  observance  by  the  companies  of  the  provisions 
and  limitations  of  their  charters.  In  the  ses-  The  first  ran- 
sions  of  1841-42  acts  were  passed  providing:  wayftcts 
that  no  railway  should  be  opened  until  it  had  been  inspected 
by  the  Board  of  Trade;  that  returns  should  be  made  to  the 
Board  of  Trade  as  to  traffic,  tolls,  rates,  and  all  cases  of 
accident;  that  existing  by-laws  affecting  persons  not  serv- 
ants of  the  companies  were  to  be  submitted  to  the  Board 
of  Trade.  The  Board  of  Trade  was  also  designated  as  the 
"  guardian  of  the  public  interest,"  and  authorized  to  certify 
to  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  any  infraction  of  the  interest 
of  the  public.  These  acts  thus  established  the  principle  of 
regulation,  but  made  no  specific  provision  of  importance. 

The  problems  of  the  railways  were  too  momentous  to  be 
long  neglected,  and  further  investigations  in  1844  resulted 
in  the  Act  of  1845  which  is  the  substantial  beginning  of 
modern  railway  legislation  hi  England.  Provision  was  made 
in  the  act  for  the  collection  of  statistical  material  concerning 


464  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  traffic  of  the  railways;  for  the  submission  of  by-laws  to 
the  Board  of  Trade  for  approval;  for  cheap  third-class  trains, 
at  convenient  hours;  authority  was  given  the  Government 
to  purchase  the  railways  after  twenty-one  years;  the  profits 
of  railways  were  limited  to  ten  per  cent;  and  the  toll  clauses 
of  all  existing  and  all  future  railways  were  fundamentally 
revised. 

This  section  of  the  act  (90)  is  the  basis  of  all  subsequent 
rate  legislation,  and  although  it  embodies  a  policy  of  regu- 
The"  charter  lation,  it  was  frequently  referred  to  as  the 
of  Liberties »  "Charter  of  Liberties "  because  of  the  wide  dis- 
cretion given  the  railways. 

AND  WHEREAS  it  is  expedient  that  the  Companies  should  be  en- 
abled to  vary  the  tolls  upon  the  railways  so  as  to  accommodate  them 
to  the  circumstances  of  the  traffic,  but  that  such  power  of  varying 
should  not  be  used  for  the  purpose  of  prejudicing  or  favoring  par- 
ticular parties,  or  for  the  purpose  of  collusively  and  unfairly  creat- 
ing a  monopoly  either  in  the  hands  of  the  Company  or  of  particular 
^parties,  it  shall  be  lawful,  therefore,  for  the  Companies  subject  to 
the  provisions  and  limitations  hereinafter  and  in  special  acts  con- 
itained,  from  time  to  time  to  alter  or  to  vary  the  tolls  by  the  special 
acts  authorized  to  be  taken,  either  upon  the  whole  or  upon  any 
portion  of  the  Railway  as  they  shall  think  fit: 

Provided  that  all  such  tolls  be  at  all  times  charged  equally  to  all 
persons,  and  after  the  same  rate,  whether  per  ton,  per  mile,  or 
otherwise,  in  respect  of  all  passengers,  and  of  all  goods  or  carriages 
of  the  same  description,  and  conveyed  or  propelled  by  a  like  car- 
riage or  engine  passing  over  the  same  portion  of  the  line  of  the 
Railway  under  the  same  circumstances,  and  no  reduction  or  ad- 
vance in  any  such  toll  shall  be  made  either  directly  or  indirectly  in 
favor  of  any  particular  company  or  person  travelling  upon  or  using 
the  line.1 

The  portions  of  this  clause  that  were  concerned  with  the 
statement  of  non-discriminatory  practices  were  not  at  once 
of  much  importance  because  there  was  no  administrative 
Essence  of  the  machinery  to  exert  constant  regulative  pressure 
v0^7  upon  the  railways.  It  was  for  this  reason  that 

the  railways  long  regarded  the  clause,  as  a  basis  for  making 
rates  according  to  their  discretion,  exempt  from  the  wholly 
1  8  Viet.,  c.  20,  sec.  90. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS       465 

impractical  limitations  embodied  in  the  early  charters. 
This  Act  of  1845,  however,  foreshadows  the  policy  of  the 
Government  with  reference  to  rates  for  nearly  a  half-century; 
in  1891  an  attempt  was  made  to  define  more  precisely  the 
rates  that  should  be  charged  upon  the  railways,  but  until 
then  the  efforts  of  the  authorities  were  devoted  to  the  main- 
tenance of  non-discriminatory  rates  according  to  these 
principles  laid  down  in  1845.  The  clause  is  noteworthy 
because  it  carefully  distinguishes  between  cases  of  real  and 
merely  apparent  discrimination;  the  phrase,  " passing  over 
the  same  portion  of  the  line  .  .  .  under  the  same  circum- 
stances," was  particularly  happy,  providing  for  the  apparent 
discriminations  of  the  long-  and  short-haul  cases,  and  the 
equally  perplexing  differences  between  carload  rates  for 
through  traffic  and  jobbers'  rates  on  small  shipments  of  simi- 
lar goods  from  the  local  stations  along  the  line.  Although 
this  is  the  first  attempt  at  careful  statement  of  a  policy  of 
non-discriminatory  regulation  it  is  superior  to  the  clauses 
of  our  Interstate  Commerce  Act,  both  in  details  of  drafting 
and  in  conceptions  of  policy. 

The  Act  of  1845  contained  no  provision  for  any  special 
authorities  to  deal  with  the  railways,  all  regulative  authority 
was  vested  in  the  Board  of  Trade  whose  functions  were  too 
diverse  to  admit  of  much  effective  supervision  of  the  rail- 
ways. In  the  following  year,  however,  an  act  was  The  com- 
passed conferring  the  powers  of  the  Board  upon  ^s"01"*8 
five  commissioners;  three  salaried  commissioners,  and  two 
members  of  Parliament  debarred  from  receiving  salary.  The 
powers  were  not  extended  in  any  significant  respect,  but  a 
bill  introduced  in  1847  proposed  to  create  a  real  administra- 
tive commission.  The  Commissioners  were  to  report  to 
Parliament  annually  on  tolls,  rates,  and  charges,  and  upon 
the  regularity  or  irregularity  of  trains ;  they  were  authorized 
to  call  for  returns  of  traffic  and  to  inspect  the  books  of  the 
companies;  and  they  were  given  the  right  to  settle  disputes 
between  companies  having  termini  or  portions  of  their  lines 
in  common.  This  bill  was  so  vigorously  opposed  by  the  rail- 
ways and  by  members  of  Parliament  that  it  was  withdrawn 


466  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

before  it  came  up  for  debate.  The  failure  of  the  measure 
proved  fatal  to  the  Commission.  Devoid  of  any  character- 
istic functions,  it  languished,  and  in  1851  was  discontinued. 
For  a  time  all  regulative  functions  were  exercised  by  the 
Board  of  Trade  or  by  the  ordinary  courts.  The  justices 
protested  against  the  new  duties  that  were  imposed  upon 

Difficulties         them  by  tne  Acts  of  1853  and  1868'    Difficult 
questions  of  fact  were  involved  which  they  were 

neither  able  nor  willing  to  decide.  It  was  not  within  their 
province,  they  declared,  to  discover  whether  or  no  a  rate  was 
"reasonable,"  nor  to  define  what  constituted  "undue  or  un- 
reasonable preference."  The  appointment  of  another  Rail- 
way Commission  in  1873  was  thus  a  natural  consequence 
TheCommis-  of  the  increasing  numbers  of  cases  concerned 
sion  of  1873  with  rates  and  rate-making.  The  powers  of 
the  Commissioners  were  judicial  rather  than  administrative; 
they  were  a  court  of  final  resort  on  all  questions  of  fact. 
Their  jurisdiction  included  both  rates  for  transport  and  the 
terminal  charges  made  for  storage,  handling  at  terminals, 
and  delivery.  They  were  authorized  to  determine  the  rea- 
sonableness of  any  terminal  charge,  and  in  order  to  exercise 
this  power  they  could  require  the  railway  to  state  what 
portions  of  the  total  charge  were  for  transportation  and  what 
portions  were  terminal  charges.  This  addition  to  the  pro- 
visions of  the  Act  of  1854  was  important  as  the  railways 
had  used  the  terminal  charge  as  a  means  of  evading  the 
provisions  of  the  earlier  act. 

Meanwhile,  the  problem  of  competition  among  the  rail- 
ways had  assumed  notable  proportions.  The  report  of  the 
committee  of  1853  has  already  been  mentioned  in  connection 
with  the  development  of  the  Midland  Railway, 
but  the  statement  of  the  policy  sketched  by  the 
committee  requires  some  delicate  distinctions  between  the 
general  notions  of  monopoly  and  competition  which  have  be- 
come increasingly  important.  There  had  been  some  percep- 
tion of  the  problem  before  1853;  amalgamations  had  been 
allowed  in  many  instances  among  lines  which  constituted  con- 
tinuous routes  and  in  some  cases  among  lines  that  might  have 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS       467 

competed  for  certain  traffic;  but  no  general  policy  had  been 
adopted  by  Parliament.  The  issues  were  squarely  joined 
by  the  proposed  amalgamations  of  the  session  of  1853;  the 
report  of  that  year  thus  possesses  the  same  basic  importance 
with  reference  to  competition  that  we  have  noted  with  ref- 
1  erence  to  rates  in  the  Act  of  1845.  It  has  long  been  cus- 
tomary to  cite  the  Report  of  1853  as  an  adoption  of  a  policy 
of  maintaining  competition,  and  there  is  evident  truth  in 
the  statement,  but  the  events  of  recent  years  have  given 
increasing  prominence  to  the  significance  of  the  carefully 
qualified  recognition  of  the  need  of  combination  under  cer- 
tain circumstances.  The  principle  of  competition  was  fa- 
vored by  the  committee,  and  a  notable  decision  made  with 
reference  to  the  London  and  North  Western  and  the  Midland, 
but  the  principle  was  not  adopted  in  any  doctrinaire  spirit. 
Extremes  were  avoided  as  carefully  as  hi  the  questions  of 
rate-making. 

"It  is  natural,"  say  the  committee,  "for  traders  to  com- 
pete where  the  opportunity  is  unlimited  for  new  rivals  to 
enter  the  field.  It  is  quite  as  natural  for  traders  to  combine 
so  soon  as  the  whole  number  of  competitors  may  be  ascer- 
tained and  limited " ;  implying  that  the  cir-  The  policy 
cumstances  of  the  railway  situation  would  lead  ad°Pted 
inevitably  to  combination.  The  committee  did  not  feel 
that  combination  was  contrary,  on  the  whole,  to  public 
policy,  but  they  feared  two  things :  the  acquisition  of  powers 
by  the  railways  that  might  diminish  the  regulatory  powers 
of  Parliament,  the  development  of  monopolies  of  traffic 
that  might  be  prejudicial  to  the  public.  They  conceived 
situations  in  which  the  freedom  and  security  of  traffic  should 
be  so  completely  guaranteed  that  amalgamation  would  no 
longer  threaten  the  public  with  the  menace  of  monopoly. 
This  foresight  has  since  been  justified.  The  departmental 
committee,  reporting  hi  1911,  says: 

The  effect  of  the  limited  degree  of  competition  now  existing  be- 
tween Railway  Companies  is  not  necessarily  to  public  advantage. 
.  .  .  Experience  has  shown  that  informal  combinations  .  .  .  while 
less  likely  to  be  of  advantage  to  the  Companies  than  the  more 


468  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

formal  and  complete  unions,  can  destroy  competition  as  effec- 
tively, and  moreover  possess  certain  incidental  disadvantages  from 
a  public  point  of  view,  from  which  a  monopoly  under  a  single  con- 
trol is  free.1 

Despite  the  general  policy  of  maintenance  of  competition 
adopted  in  1853,  there  has  been  a  steady  development  of 
combinations  among  railways  which  was  rapidly  creating  a 
unified  railway  system  when  the  outbreak  of  the  War  re- 
_  . .  ^  suited  in  the  establishment  of  national  control 

Combinations        .,         .  .  .^ 

for  the  period  of  the  War.  Although  this  was  a 
war  measure  and  is  in  form  temporary,  there  is  little  expec- 
tation of  abandonment  of  centralized  control.  It  is  thus  of 
some  interest  to  trace  the  rise  and  decline  of  the  policy  of 
maintenance  of  competition,  and  it  is  certainly  of  moment 
to  recognize  that  the  policy  was  never  intended  to  be  ap- 
plied in  any  extreme  form.  There  is  a  greater  degree  of 
continuity  of  policy  than  might  appear  on  the  surface  of 
railway  legislation. 

The  willingness  to  recognize  combinations  among  railways 
even  in  1853  appears  most  clearly  in  the  policy  adopted 
toward  the  various  kinds  of  arrangements  between  compa- 
nies retaining  their  corporate  independence.  Working  agree- 
ments and  pools  were  frankly  admitted  to  be  desirable,  but 
such  arrangements  were  illegal  unless  specifically  sanctioned 
by  Parliament.  By  granting  such  powers  for  limited  pe- 
riods Parliament  hoped  to  exercise  a  greater  measure  of  con- 
trol than  would  be  possible  if  the  companies  were  amalga- 
mated. Traffic  pools  and  working  agreements  were  thus 
encouraged,  and  in  the  years  that  followed  the  field  of  actual 
competition  among  railways  was  greatly  restricted. 

Furthermore,  there  was  a  tendency  to  restrict  competition 
to  the  competition  of  routes  and  facilities  as  distinct  from 
differential  rates.  In  rate-making  the  principle  of  the  most 
favorable  route  was  a  predominant  factor  in  the  adjust- 
ments among  the  various  roads.  In  addition  to  the  Railway 
Clearing-House,  which  handled  the  accounting  in  all  mat- 

1  Cited  by  Robertson,  W.  A.:  Combination  among  Railway  Companies  (Lon- 
don, 1912),  23-24. 


ters  pertaining  to  the  division  of  revenue  from  through  traffic, 
the  railways  developed  a  number  of  monthly  Traffic  con- 
rate  conferences  to  adjust  various  matters  per-  ferences 
taining  to  competitive  rates  and  traffic.  The  more  important 
of  these  conferences  came  into  being  between  1873  and  1881 ; 
there  have  been  some  additions  since  that  time,  but  most  of 
the  regular  conferences  were  hi  existence  in  1881.  The  Lon- 
don and  West  Riding  Conference  handled  questions  concern- 
ing traffic  between  London  and  stations  hi  the  West  Riding, 
excluding  the  coal  traffic  from  South  Yorkshire.  The  Nor- 
manton  Conference  dealt  with  rate  questions  hi  which  three 
or  more  railways  were  interested,  together  with  regulations 
concerning  cartage,  warehousing,  and  wharfage  at  the  vari- 
ous towns  embraced  in  the  conference.  The  London,  Liver- 
pool, and  Manchester  Conference  dealt  with  traffic  from 
the  Lancashire  district  bounded  by  Liverpool,  Fleetwood, 
Preston,  and  Stockport.  The  English  and  Scotch  Traffic 
Rates  Conference  handled  all  rate  problems  arising  out  of  the 
traffic  in  goods  and  livestock  between  Scotland  and  England. 
The  Liverpool  and  Manchester  Districts  Conference  dealt 
with  rates  between  Liverpool  and  west  coast  ports  to  Man- 
chester. The  Midland  Association,  the  Irish  and  English 
Traffic  Conference,  the  South  of  Ireland  Conference,  the 
Irish  Cattle  Conference  exercised  functions  that  are  obvious. 
The  Humber  Conference  was  concerned  with  traffic  between 
the  east  and  west  coast  points.  The  activities  of  these  con- 
ferences aroused  some  apprehensions  among  the  traders,  but 
testimony  was  given  hi  1881  hi  which  it  was  denied  that  the 
railways  had  combined  to  raise  rates.  The  result  of  these 
meetings,  it  was  asserted,  was  a  series  of  reductions. 

The  antagonism  between  the  railways  and  the  traders 
which  continued  throughout  the  rest  of  the  century  began  in 
the  period  marked  by  the  development  of  these  The  railways 
various  modes  of  reducing  the  evils  of  competi-  and  the  tiad*n 
tive  rate-making  among  the  railways.    It  is  difficult,  perhaps 
impossible,  to  reach  any  judgment  of  the  merits  of  the  con- 
troversy, but  one  is  tempted  to  conclude  that  many  practices 
of  the  railways  were  misunderstood  by  the  traders.     The 


470  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

methods  of  rate-making,  that  were  by  necessity  the  founda- 
tion of  the  rate  structure  that  assumed  form  at  this  time, 
resulted  inevitably  in  many  anomalous  rates.  The  presence 
of  water  competition  or  the  competition  of  a  more  advan- 
tageous rail  route  would  result  in  rate  reductions.  Rates 
between  competitive  points  would  thus  cease  to  bear  the 
normal  relation  to  mileage,  and  many  seemingly  irrational 
situations  might  develop.  The  traders  were  prone  to  assume 
that  these  competitive  rates  represented  roughly  the  cost  of 
rendering  the  service,  and  they  thus  concluded  that  large 
margins  of  profit  existed  on  all  non-competitive  traffic.  The 
committee  of  1881  gave  much  attention  to  the  question  of 
rates,  canvassing  two  main  subjects,  prevailing  methods  of 
rate-making  and  the  desirability  of  increasing  the  powers  of 
the  Railway  Commissioners  by  the  addition  of  rate-making 
functions.  The  report  of  the  committee  was  indecisive. 
The  influence  brought  to  bear  by  the  railways  themselves 
Ratereguia-  was  considerable.  Parliamentary  action  was 
tion  thus  postponed  for  a  few  years.  The  complaints 

of  the  traders,  however,  became  more  and  more  insistent, 
and  in  1888  the  powers  of  the  Commissioners  were  enlarged 
and  provision  made  for  a  systematic  regulation  of  rates.  The 
principles  embodied  in  the  early  charters  were  to  be  applied; 
the  character  of  the  rates  specified  were  somewhat  different, 
but  the  idea  of  defining  by  statute  the  maximum  rate  to  be 
charged  was  frankly  adopted. 

Pains  were  taken  to  bring  this  scheme  within  the  limits  of 
practicality:  the  railways  were  urged  to  submit  to  the  Board 
Procedure  of  Trade  revised  classifications  of  goods  with 
proposed  schedules  of  rates.  The  Board  of  Trade  would 

then  consider  the  proposed  rates  and  listen  to  any  complaints 
lodged  with  them  against  the  schedules.  In  theory  the  rail- 
ways were  to  take  the  initiative;  the  traders  were  to  have  an 
opportunity  to  criticize;  the  Board  of  Trade  was  to  serve  as 
arbiter.  Only  in  case  the  Board  of  Trade  found  it  impos- 
sible to  reach  an  agreement  with  the  railways  was  it  per- 
mitted to  prepare  schedules  on  its  own  initiative.  The 
schedules  prepared  thus  were  to  be  introduced  as  a  Provi- 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS  ]'  471 

sional  Order  Bill,  affording  additional  opportunity  for  criti- 
cism. The  act  provided  that  companies  should  keep  on 
hand  for  inspection  and  sale  copies  of  their  authorized  classi- 
fication and  the  schedule  of  authorized  maxima,  thus  assur- 
ing a  greater  measure  of  publicity  than  had  hitherto  existed. 

The  railway  companies  complied  with  the  terms  of  the 
act,  though  with  many  misgivings.  Schedules  of  maximum 
rates  and  charges  were  submitted  to  the  Board  of  Trade  and 
published.  Over  four  thousand  objections  were  made.  An 
inquiry  was  held,  and,  after  protracted  hearings  of  railway 
companies  and  traders,  a  new  schedule  of  rates  was  prepared 
for  companies  having  termini  in  London.  These  schedules 
proposed  considerable  reductions,  establishing  a  maximum 
below  the  existing  rate  hi  many  cases.  In  other  cases  the 
rates  were  considerably  above  the  rates  then  charged  by  the 
companies.  The  bills  containing  these  schedules  were  intro- 
duced in  1891,  and  hi  the  following  year  similar  bills  were 
prepared  with  reference  to  the  other  railways. 

In  September,  1891,  shortly  after  the  first  group  of  bills 
was  passed,  the  managers  of  seventeen  of  the  principal  rail- 
ways met  in  London  to  consider  means  of  fore-  opposition  of 
stalling  a  serious  reduction  hi  revenue  from  these  the  railways 
reductions.  It  was  resolved  to  adopt  the  schedules  in  their 
entirety  as  actual  rates,  raising  such  rates  as  were  below  the 
maxima  provided  in  the  schedules.  Partly  as  explanation 
and  partly  as  defense  of  this  action,  the  railways  declared 
that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  do  otherwise  for  the  time 
being.  The  changes  involved  the  recalculation  of  millions  of 
rates,  little  tune  was  allowed  for  the  publication  of  the  new 
rates,  and  under  the  circumstances  they  declared  that  it  was 
impossible  to  get  out  a  series  of  schedules  of  actual  rates  dis- 
tinct from  the  maxima.  It  was  implied  that  the  use  of  the 
maxima  would  be  merely  a  temporary  expedient,  but  one 
may  well  doubt  the  good  faith  of  the  railways  in  this  matter. 
No  instructions  were  given  station-masters  to  indicate  that 
the  new  rates  were  to  be  merely  provisional. 

The  action  of  the  railways  evoked  cries  of  alarm  and  dis- 
may from  the  traders.  The  latter  appealed  to  the  Board  of 


472  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Trade  for  assistance,  and  the  Board  wrote  (January  2,  1893) 
to  the  Associated  Railway  Companies  calling  their  attention 
to  the  complaints,  and  asking  if  the  rates  then  in  the  rate- 
books were  to  be  taken  as  an  expression  of  the  deliberate 
opinion  of  the  railway  companies.  The  railway  companies 
replied  (January  7,  1893) : 

The  rates  now  entered  in  the  rate-books  are  not  to  be  taken  as 
final,  and  any  rate  which  shall  be  found  open  to  any  serious  objec- 
tion will  be  reconsidered. . . .  The  Companies  believe  that  many  of 
the  alleged  grievances  will  disappear  before  the  end  of  February,  by 
which  date  the  completed  scale  of  rates  will  be  inserted  in  the  rate- 
books; and  they  are  satisfied  that  the  course  they  propose  of  im- 
mediate investigation  of  complaints,  and  the  gradual  revision  by 
the  goods  managers,  concurrently  with  meetings  for  full  discussion 
between  the  traders  and  general  managers,  will  best  tend  toward 
the  settlement  of  differences.1 

The  traders  interpreted  this  to  mean  that  the  companies 

intended  to  maintain  the  maximum  rates  wherever  they 

could.      Correspondence   with   the   Board   of 

The  settlement     m,  •          i        mi       •»•»         -i      /•  m       i 

Trade  continued.  The  Board  of  Trade  urged 
the  companies  to  return  to  the  rates  in  force  prior  to  the 
new  legislation,  but  this  was  more  than  the  railways  would 
agree  to  do.  They  insisted  upon  an  increase  of  five  per 
cent  in  all  cases  in  which  such  an  increase  was  within  the 
maximum  permitted,  and  finally  in  March,  1893,  the  rail- 
ways returned  to  their  original  classification  with  this 
difference  in  the  rates.  The  results  were  not  serious.  The 
increase  in  revenue  from  the  five  per  cent  increase  was  in 
most  cases  sufficient  to  balance  the  loss  from  reductions. 
Tests  on  the  Great  Western  system,  which  were  regarded  as 
characteristic,  showed  a  net  gain  of  £50,000  on  May  4  and 
of  £14,000  on  a  selected  day  in  August. 

In  January,  1894,  an  act  was  passed  providing  that  any 
rate  in  excess  of  the  rate  charged  December  31,  1892,  should 
unreasonable  be  considered  prima  facie  unreasonable.  The 
rates  Railway  Commissioners  were  given  power  to 

deal  with  complaints  arising  under  the  act,  and,  though  it 

1  Commons  Papers,  1893.  Vol.  LXXIX  (c  7044).  Correspondence  between 
the  Board  of  Trade  and  the  Railway  Companies.  No.  2. 


THE  GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  RAILWAYS       473 

was  not  intended,  they  were  undoubtedly  given  power  to 
make  rates.  The  Commissioners  refused  to  interpret  the 
act  save  in  the  most  conservative  manner:  Justice  Collins 
said,  "  I  cannot  suppose  that  Parliament  intended  to  take  the 
management  of  these  trading  companies  out  of  the  hands 
of  the  men  who  manage  them,  and  to  place  it  in  the  hands 
of  the  Railway  Commissioners."  l 

The  Commission  did  not  even  adopt  the  1892  rate  as  an 
unqualified  standard  of  reasonableness,  it  was  held  that  spe- 
cial conditions  could  be  considered,  and  this  attitude  has  in 
large  measure  prevented  the  realization  of  the  anticipations 
of  the  traders.  The  Commission  has  carefully  avoided  any 
rate-making  experiments,  and,  on  the  whole,  it  is  credited 
with  having  done  well  in  administering  an  unfortunate  piece 
of  legislation. 

In  the  early  years  of  the  twentieth  century  the  revenues  of 
the  railways  began  to  decline;  operating  expenses  had  in- 
creased, rates  had  not  increased  in  proportion,  Financial 
and  the  traffic  of  the  railways  had  suffered  from  Pressure 
the  competition  of  electric  tram  lines  and  motors.    In  1870 
the  proportion  of  operating  expenses  to  gross  receipts  for  all 
companies  was  forty-eight  per  cent.     In  1890  it  was  fifty- 
four  per  cent,  and  in  1908  it  was  nearly  sixty-four  per  cent.2 
Making  such  allowance  as  is  possible  for  the  increased  capital 
investment  in  the  properties,  it  seems  fair  to  say  that  the  divi- 
dends on  the  ordinary  stock  of  the  companies  had  declined 
from  an  average  of  four  and  one  half  per  cent  in  the  decade 
1875-85,  to  four  per  cent  hi  the  decade  1885-95,  and  to  three 
and  one  half  per  cent  hi  the  decade  1895-1905.  In  order  to 
meet  these  new  conditions  the  various  railways  have  formed 
cpmbinations  to  achieve  economies  in  operation. 
Between  1904  and  1909  the  three  leading  west 
coast  companies  formed  an  alliance  which  put  an  end  to 
any  significant  competition  among  them.    The  London  and 
North  Western  and  the  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  had  been 

1  J.  S.  McLean:  "The  English  Railway  and  Canal  Commission  of  1888," 
Quarterly  Journal  of  Economics,  XX,  1. 
*  Robertson:  op.  cit.  22. 


474  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

closely  associated  since  1862,  constituting  for  practical  pur- 
poses one  system,  but  the  Midland  Railway  had  long  been  a 
keenly  competitive  rival.  In  1908  an  agreement  was  made 
between  the  London  and  North  Western  and  the  Midland, 
which  was  extended  in  the  following  year  to  include  the 
Lancashire  and  Yorkshire.  A  great  traffic  pool  was  formed 
for  all  competitive  traffic,  covering  both  freight  and  pas- 
sengers and  including  joint  use  of  all  facilities.  Stations 
can  be  used  indiscriminately,  by  the  railways  themselves,  by 
traders,  and  by  passengers.  A  number  of  economies  of  opera- 
tion are  introduced  both  in  the  routes  used  for  passengers  and 
freight  and  hi  the  choice  of  freight  stations  with  reference  to 
the  greatest  convenience  in  delivery.  So  far  as  the  public  is 
concerned  these  lines  have  become  one  system.  A  similar 
agreement  has  been  made  by  the  Great  Northern,  the  Great 
Central,  and  the  Great  Eastern,  which  thus  consolidates  the 
more  important  east  coast  lines.  The  Scotch  lines  have 
made  agreements  with  reference  to  their  Clyde  steamers. 
The  Great  Western  and  the  London  and  South  Western  en- 
tered into  a  cooperative  agreement  with  reference  to  their 
competitive  traffic.  Consolidation  was  therefore  already  far 
advanced  when  the  roads  were  taken  over  by  the  Govern- 
Govemment  ment  at  the  beginning  of  the  War.  The  mech- 
controi  anism  for  joint  operation  existed,  and  officials 

had  had  much  experience  in  cooperative  endeavor.  Public 
opinion  was  not  unfavorable  to  consolidation  and  there  was 
much  agitation  for  national  control.  Consolidation  would 
undoubtedly  bring  with  it  an  increase  of  governmental  super- 
vision, and  this  would  differ  only  in  name  from  governmental 
control.  The  widely  current  opinion  that  Government  con- 
trol of  the  railways  has  come  to  stay  is  therefore  justified 
by  many  aspects  of  the  pre-war  situation. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES 


MOST  writers  now  agree  that  the  "  trust  movement "  began 
later  in  Great  Britain  than  in  Germany  or  the  United  States. 
The  country  that  was  first  to  disclose  most  of  The  trust 
the  tendencies  that  are  important  in  the  Indus-  movement 
trial  Revolution  was  in  this  instance  the  last  to  reveal  this 
notable  tendency  in  industrial  organization.  In  order  to 
reach  this  conclusion  it  is  necessary  to  conventionalize  the 
meaning  of  the  phrase  "trust  movement":  what  are  termed 
"sporadic  "  instances  must  needs  be  excluded.  The  arrange- 
ments among  the  coal  producers  of  the  Newcastle  district 
in  the  early  part  of  the  century  must  not  be  counted.  The 
pools  and  amalgamations  among  the  railways  and  the  rate 
agreements  among  oceanic  steamship  lines  must  likewise 
be  excluded.  Some  unsuccessful  tendencies  toward  com- 
bination hi  the  iron  trade  in  the  decade  of  the  eighties  must 
also  be  passed  by  hi  silence.  When  such  qualifications 
have  been  made  it  is  possible  to  date  the  combination  move- 
ment from  the  decade  of  the  nineties,  and  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  the  tendency  toward  combination  became  conspic- 
uous in  industry  only  toward  the  close  of  the  last  century. 
The  years  1899  and  1900  saw  the  formation  of  amalgamations 
and  agreements  on  a  scale  without  precedent  in  Great  Britain. 
A  widespread  tendency  toward  combination  thus  emerges  hi 
Great  Britain  ten  or  fifteen  years  later  than  hi  Germany  and 
the  United  States,  and  even  then  develops  less  portentously 
than  in  those  countries. 

The  comparative  chronology  of  the  movement  hi  the  dif- 
ferent countries  would  be  of  little  importance  if  it  were  not 
for  the  disposition  of  certain  writers  to  regard  significance  of 
the  combination  movement  as  the  forerunner  of  <*«»«>iosy 
some  far-reaching  change  in  the  general  mode  of  social  or- 


476  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

ganization;  the  first  intimation  of  the  passing  of  a  competi- 
tive order  of  society.  The  end  toward  which  social  organiza- 
tion is  supposed  to  be  moving  is  vaguely  conceived,  deemed 
by  some  to  be  nothing  less  than  a  complete  realization  of 
certain  socialistic  ideals  while  others  merely  assume  that 
the  State  will  ultimately  take  charge  of  most  of  the  indus- 
tries and  productive  establishments.  If  the  late  and  hesi- 
tant development  in  Great  Britain  is  due  to  something 
deeper  than  mere  inertia,  there  may  well  be  grounds  for 
supposing  that  competition  in  some  form  or  other  may  pos- 
sess a  vitality  wholly  unsuspected  by  the  most  enthusiastic 
students  of  monopolistic  tendencies  hi  Germany  and  the 
United  States.  Comparative  study  of  the  progress  of  this 
tendency  makes  it  easier  to  distinguish  between  the  funda- 
mental conditions  underlying  the  movement  and  incidental 
or  adventitious  features  that  have  contributed  to  its  progress. 
The  late  emergence  of  combinations  in  Great  Britain  has 
been  attributed  to  the  individualistic  character  of  the  Brit- 
Causes  of  late-  *s^  business  man  and  to  the  free-trade  system, 
ness  of  move-  "Both  explanations  are  inadequate.  The  psy- 
chology of  the  Englishman  did  not  prevent  the 
establishment  of  significant  combinations  in  a  number  of 
important  trades  early  in  the  nineteenth  century.  In  this, 
as  in  other  cases,  professions  of  a  particular  belief  have  not 
prevented  action  upon  a  contrary  principle.  Professor  Levy 
believes  that  the  explanation  is  to  be  found  primarily  in  the 
character  and  location  of  the  mineral  and  extractive  re- 
sources of  Great  Britain,  secondarily  in  the  free-trade  policy 
and  the  features  of  international  competition  that  make  that 
policy  wise  in  the  case  of  England.  The  most  important 
factor  is  the  multiplicity  of  deposits  of  the  various  minerals 
and  the  facility  with  which  they  can  reach  essential  portions 
of  the  market.  This  dispersion  of  resources  is  as  notable 
in  Great  Britain  as  is  the  concentration  of  such  resources 
in  both  Germany  and  the  United  States.  The  relation  of 
The  London  this  aspect  of  conditions  to  combination  is  well 
coal  trade  illustrated  by  the  history  of  the  London  coal 
trade.  Coal  began  to  appear  on  the  London  market  from  the 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  477 

mines  in  the  Newcastle  district  at  an  early  date,  and  this 
early  trade  came  to  be  organized  according  to  medieval 
forms  with  true  loyalty  to  the  medieval  policy  of  limitation 
of  output.  When  the  gild  came  to  an  end  hi  the  early  seven- 
teenth century  private  agreements  between  the  owners  of 
the  mines  were  sufficient  to  maintain  all  the  essentials  of  the 
policy  of  limitation  of  production.  The  properties  were  held 
in  a  few  hands  and  combination  was  easy. 

The  policy  was  successful  because  no  other  coal  could  prof- 
itably reach  the  London  market.  Changes  in  the  technique 
of  mining  opened  new  mines  in  the  northern  fields,  many  of 
which  commanded  even  easier  access  to  tidewater  than  the 
older  mines.  Competition  thus  sprang  up  in  the  district 
among  the  older  and  the  newer  mines,  but  the  results  were 
so  disastrous  that  a  new  combination  was  established  toward 
the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Production  was  regu- 
lated with  reference  to  the  condition  of  the  London  market, 
which  was  further  dominated  by  a  group  of  wholesale  dealers. 
The  Newcastle  coal-owners  restricted  output  within  limits 
which  would  maintain  prices  at  figures  that  assured  the 
wholesalers  in  London  a  comfortable  margin  over  local  prices. 
It  was  in  the  interest  of  the  coal-owners  to  have  prices  in  Lon- 
don fairly  well  standardized  as  it  became  easier  to  estimate 
the  tone  of  the  market  as  to  quantities.  Production  was  ad- 
justed in  such  a  way  as  to  prevent  the  monopoly  of  the  deal- 
ers from  becoming  oppressive.  The  officials  of  the  organi- 
zation at  Newcastle  allotted  production  by  districts,  and 
further  allotments  were  made  to  the  individual  mines. 

This  entire  structure  of  monopoly  rested  upon  the  regional 
monopoly  possessed  by  the  Newcastle  fields.    With  the  de- 
velopment of  railways  and  canals  monopoly  Basis  of  the 
ceased  to  be  the  predominant  feature  of  the  mon°Poly 
London  coal  trade.  Sufficient  coal  from  inland  workings  ap- 
peared on  the  market  hi  the  late  thirties  to  subject  the  New- 
castle Vend  to  severe  pressure,  and  by  1844  conditions  were  so 
serious  that  prices  were  reduced  far  below  the  level  of  profit- 
able operation  for  the  poorer  mines.    After  a  feeble  attempt 
to  reorganize,  the  combination  was  abandoned.   Since  then 


478  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  London  coal  market  has  been  increasingly  competitive. 
It  became  the  avowed  policy  of  the  railways  to  adjust  rates 
in  such  a  way  as  would  make  it  possible  for  coal  to  reach  the 
market  effectively  from  all  the  important  mining  regions. 
Under  these  circumstances  combinations  to  control  the  Lon- 
don market  have  proved  to  be  impracticable.  What  is  true 
of  the  London  market  in  particular  is  even  more  true  of  the 
general  national  market;  no  single  region  possesses  a  sub- 
stantial degree  of  monopoly  of  any  single  grade  of  coal,  with 
the  possible  exception  of  the  Welsh  semi-bituminous  fields. 
The  combination  formed  to  control  the  trade  in  this  steam 
coal  illustrates  the  close  relation  between  the  degree  of  concen- 
tration of  the  mineral  deposit  and  opportunities  for  monopo- 
listic organization.  The  German  cartel  in  the  Ruhr  basin 
Foreign  con-  controls  in  that  region  sixty  per  cent  of  the  total 
ditions  output  of  coal  in  the  entire  customs  area.  A 

somewhat  similar  degree  of  concentration  of  the  production 
of  particular  grades  of  coal  m  the  United  States  has  exerted 
important  influence  upon  combinations  hi  the  coal  trade  and 
in  the  iron  industry. 

Deposits  of  iron  hi  the  various  countries  present  essentially 
the  same  features,  though  in  more  pronounced  degree.  No 
single  British  ore  field  produces  as  much  as  one 
half  the  total  product.  The  Lorraine  ores  con- 
stitute more  than  eighty-five  per  cent  of  the  total  German 
output,  and  the  Lake  Superior  ores  a  similar  portion  of  the  pro- 
duction of  the  entire  United  States.  .  There  are  thus  certain 
natural  conditions  in  Germany  and  the  United  States  which 
have  favored  combination  in  trades  dependent  upon  the 
extractive  industries.  It  will  be  noted,  too,  that  the  most 
aggressive  combinations  have  occurred  in  these  trades.  In 
some  cases  the  degree  of  concentration  of  the  supplies  of  the 
raw  materials  has  been  affected  by  the  development  of  the 
regions  of  the  United  States  whose  resources  were  not  at  first 
adequately  known,  but  though  production  of  oil  and  coal  is 
somewhat  more  dispersed  now  than  at  the  beginnings  of  the 
combination  movement  the  initial  situation  gave  the  existing 
organizations  an  advantage  which  they  have  not  yet  lost. 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  479 

The  difference  in  the  relative  importance  of  the  foreign 
and  domestic  markets  must  also  be  kept  in  mind  in  discussing 
the  comparative  chronology  of  the  combination  Marketing 
movement.  For  many  industries  in  Germany  Problems 
and  the  United  States  the  domestic  market  is  and  has  been 
of  primary  importance.  The  later  acquisition  of  the  tech- 
nique of  the  Industrial  Revolution  placed  them  in  the  posi- 
tion of  competing  with  foreign  countries  for  their  own  domes- 
tic markets  in  many  trades.  Great  Britain,  on  the  other 
hand,  was  primarily  concerned  with  the  foreign  market,  both 
because  of  the  narrower  quantitative  limitations  of  her  do- 
mestic market  and  the  actual  possession  of  foreign  markets 
obtained  at  a  period  when  commercial  rivalry  was  less  keen. 
These  circumstances  are,  of  course,  closely  related  to  the 
free-trade  policy.  It  is  important,  however,  to  note  that 
the  conditions  of  international  competition  are  at  once  a 
primary  factor  in  the  maintenance  of  the  liberal  commercial 
policy  and  the  essential  factor  in  maintaining  a  larger  meas- 
ure of  industrial  competition  than  exists  in  other  countries. 
Combination  is  restricted  to  the  achievement  of  increased 
efficiency  in  the  conduct  of  business,  for  monopolistic  control 
over  prices  is  hardly  feasible.  There  is  less  inducement  to 
forego  the  satisfaction  of  personal  control  of  one's  establish- 
ment, and  consequently  much  less  eagerness  or  willingness 
to  form  combinations. 

II 

Combinations  may  be  classified  with  reference  to  the  char- 
acteristics of  the  legal  forms  of  the  association  or  with 
reference  to  the  relation  of  the  association  to  Legal  ciassifi- 
the  entire  group  of  industrial  and  commercial  cation 
processes  engaged  in  putting  a  particular  finished  product 
in  the  hands  of  the  consumers.  Differences  of  legal  form 
turn  primarily  upon  the  degree  of  permanence  sought,  pre- 
senting every  gradation  from  mere  contracts  between  dis- 
tinct firms  to  regulate  certain  matters  of  common  concern 
to  acts  of  incorporation  entered  into  by  a  group  of  firms  to 
form  a  single  large  corporation.  The  combination  movement 


480  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

is  directed  toward  the  integration  of  industry,  but  unless  at- 
tention is  concentrated  exclusively  upon  the  utmost  possi- 
bilities, it  is  more  largely  concerned  with  the  regulation  of 
competition  than  with  its  complete  suppression.  The  ar- 
rangement of  forms  in  logical  sequence  proceeding  from  the 
least  degree  of  regulation  to  the  achievement  of  substantial 
monopoly  is  frequently  supposed  to  be  evidence  of  an  irre- 
sistible tendency  toward  the  logical  conclusion,  and  there  is 
just  enough  truth  hi  this  idea  of  a  tendency  toward  the  ex- 
treme logical  conclusion  to  make  it  difficult  to  judge  accu- 
rately the  course  of  events.  The  convenience  of  the  purely 
logical  arrangement  in  the  presentation  of  material  ought 
not  to  prejudice  our  judgment. 

The  simplest  form  of  trade  agreement  is  the  understanding 
with  reference  to  the  conditions  of  transacting  business:  an 
Trade  agree-  agreement  as  to  the  terms  of  credit,  discounts, 
ments  payment  for  packing  and  transport,  and  other 

matters  incidental  to  the  trade.  In  some  instances  these 
agreements  are  scarcely  more  than  attempts  to  standardize 
forms  of  doing  business  comparable  to  the  rules  of  Boards  of 
Trade  and  marketing  associations,  but  in  some  trades  such 
conventions  tend  to  insure  open  competition  and  to  exclude 
rebates  and  special  discounts. 

Price  associations  represent  the  next  higher  degree  of  com- 
bination. These  agreements  constitute  a  definite  qualifi- 
Price  associa-  cation  of  competition;  the  group  of  associated 
tions  dealers  or  traders  acts  concertedly  hi  raising  or 

reducing  prices  both  as  to  the  date  and  the  extent  of  the  price 
change.  Sporadic  action  of  this  type  is  common  among  the 
smaller  retail  tradesmen  of  many  localities,  and  periodic 
price-fixing  is  practiced  by  associations  of  producers  of  various 
raw  materials.  Associations  for  price-fixing  have  existed  in 
the  coal  and  iron  trades  of  Great  Britain  since  the  eighties. 
The  Cleveland  Ironmasters'  Association,  the  Midland  Un- 
marked Bar  Association,  and  the  Fife  Coal  Association  are 
illustrations  of  this  type.  Such  associations  usually  possess 
some  formal  organization:  a  staff  of  executive  officials  and 
provision  for  regular  meetings.  At  tunes  deposits  are  re- 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  481 

quired  to  constitute  security  for  the  observance  of  the  de- 
cisions of  the  association,  but  in  many  instances  these 
common  decisions  are  mere  "gentlemen's  agreements"  de- 
pendent upon  the  good-will  of  all  concerned. 

Price-fixing  seems  to  provide  a  remedy  for  excessive  com- 
petition, but  in  reality  it  leaves  the  cause  of  difficulties  un- 
touched. It  is  of  little  permanent  avail  to  fix  prices  if  pro- 
duction is  unchecked,  so  that  such  agreements  might  well 
be  nullified  by  the  overstocking  of  the  market  even  without 
any  deliberate  intent  on  the  part  of  the  members  of  the  asso- 
ciation to  abandon  the  scale  of  prices.  Attempts  at  price- 
fixing  are  thus  peculiarly  likely  to  be  abandoned  altogether 
or  carried  further  by  means  of  some  arrangement  for  the  con- 
trol of  production.  Pools,  whether  of  production 

...  ,,  ,      .          Pools 

or  of  receipts,  are  the  most  common  device. 
Specific  shares  in  production  are  in  such  cases  assigned  to  the 
members  of  the  pool,  just  as  the  shares  in  the  output  of  coal 
were  allotted  to  the  various  mines  in  the  Newcastle  district 
in  the  days  of  the  Vend.  The  adjustment  of  the  allotments 
presents  many  difficulties,  even  when  the  practice  is  allowed 
by  law  as  in  England. 

The  traffic  pools  among  the  competing  railways  hi  the  fifties 
are  representative  of  the  extreme  difficulty  of  establishing  a 
just  basis  for  division  of  trade  or  traffic.  The  Great  Northern 
was  a  new  line,  and  though  it  possessed  a  superior  route  for 
many  portions  of  the  territory  it  could  bring  forward  no  sta- 
tistics of  traffic  to  support  its  claims.  The  London  and  North 
Western  and  the  other  roads  of  the  hostile  alliance  would  rec- 
ognize nothing  but  existing  traffic  as  the  basis  for  the  pool. 
It  was  under  such  circumstances  that  the  intervention  of  Mr. 
Gladstone  was  sought.  The  ultimate  failure  of  that  par- 
ticular pool  is  hardly  surprising  when  one  considers  the  utter 
lack  of  any  real  friendliness  among  its  component  parts. 
Some  of  the  difficulties  of  pooling  are  avoided  by  the  pooling 
of  the  profits  instead  of  the  traffic  or  production. 

The  German  cartel  is  a  stronger  organization  designed  pri- 
marily to  secure  the  advantage  of  pooling  without  entirely 
destroying  the  individuality  of  the  member  firms.  The  essen- 


482  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

tial  feature  is  the  organization  of  a  corporation  by  the  mem- 
ber  firms  for  the  purpose  of  selling  the  product 
and  determining  the  policies  of  the  associated 
companies;  the  capitalization  is  nominal,  but  the  organiza- 
tion in  all  respects  similar  to  that  of  a  corporation  doing  busi- 
ness directly.  The  conduct  of  operations  by  the  member 
firms,  however,  is  substantially  similar  to  the  system  followed 
by  a  pool.  Output  is  limited  and  quotas  allotted.  Provi- 
sion is  made  for  divergences  from  the  quotas.  The  prices  are 
fixed.  Organizations  of  this  type  have  appeared  in  England, 
though  they  have  never  become  common  as  a  means  to  the 
desired  end.  The  Central  Sales  Agency  which  formerly  mar- 
keted the  thread  of  the  firms  composing  J.  &  P.  Coats  seems 
to  be  an  organization  of  this  type,  but  its  methods  are  not 
sufficiently  known  to  admit  of  much  certainty  of  classification. 
The  North- Western  Salt  Company  (1906)  and  the'  Industrial 
Spirit  Supply  Company  (1907)  seem  likewise  to  present  the 
chief  features  of  the  cartel.  The  more  considerable  combi- 
nations in  England,  as  in  the  United  States,  have  become 
giant  corporations  in  which  the  individuality  of  the  con- 
stituent firms  is  wholly  lost.  Such  associations,  however, 
become  by  necessity  permanent. 

It  is  usually  presumed  that  the  temporary  forms  of  com- 
bination are  inherently  defective  both  from  the  economic 

instabfflt  of  an(*  ^rom  *ke  ^eSal  point  of  view.  The  hostile 
temporary  com-  policy  of  the  courts  and  legislatures  in  the 
United  States  afforded  further  motives  for  the 
abandonment  of  the  temporary  forms  here,  and  though  there 
has  been  no  actual  hostility  to  such  forms  of  organization  in 
Great  Britain,  the  fact  that  all  contracts  in  restraint  of  trade 
were  unenforceable  made  temporary  combinations  ineffective 
as  a  remedy  for  the  most  destructive  forms  of  competition. 
It  is  strange  that  the  different  policy  adopted  in  English- 
speaking  countries  has  not  left  a  palpable  impress  upon  the 
history  of  the  movement  in  the  two  countries,  but  in  reality 
there  is  little  to  distinguish  the  history  of  temporary  forms  of 
combination  here  from  the  history  of  similar  forms  in  Eng- 
land. The  extent  of  successful  evasion  of  the  anti-pooling 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  483 

laws  in  this  country  must  have  contributed  toward  this  re- 
sult. Although  temporary  associations  have  been  accounted 
wholly  futile,  it  is  likely  that  some  of  these  weaker  forms  of 
association  play  an  inconspicuous  but  significant  part  in  the 
trade  of  Great  Britain.  In  attempting  to  estimate  the  im- 
portance of  tendencies  toward  combination  in  the  entire 
industrial  field  these  evanescent  'and  unstable  forms  may 
really  count  for  more  than  is  frequently  supposed,  and  the 
fact  that  they  do  not  result  in  permanent  combination  might 
be  taken  to  indicate  limitations  to  the  ultimate  extent  of  the 
combination  movement. 

Permanent  associations  have  been  organized  in  Great 
Britain  as  holding  companies  or  as  new  corporations;  the 
"trust"  in  the  accurate  sense  of  the  term  has 

,  .  Trusts 

been  rarely  used.  Ine  formation  of  a  company 
to  take  over  all  the  stock  of  the  member  companies  presents  a 
number  of  advantages.  It  is  easier  to  retain  any  advantage 
to  be  derived  from  locally  known  brands  and  from  the  good- 
will of  the  subsidiary  companies.  The  former  can  more  read- 
ily be  kept  in  close  contact  with  the  business.  As  compared 
with  the  giant  corporation,  these  aggregates  held  together  by 
a  holding  company  may  display  more  individual  resource- 
fulness and  energy,  retaining  the  more  conspicuous  features 
of  individual  ownership  without  its  competitive  burdens. 
The  large  corporation,  however,  is  frequently  The  large 
able  to  introduce  economies  in  production  by  corP°ration 
bringing  the  entire  mass  of  properties  up  to  the  standard  of 
the  best  managed  and  equipped,  closing  unessential  or  badly 
equipped  plants  that  would  have  to  be  kept  running  under 
the  other  system.  The  characteristics  of  each  form  are  thus 
adapted  to  different  conditions,  both  of  personnel  and  indus- 
trial technique:  there  is  scarce  any  warrant  for  declaring  one 
form  superior  to  the  other. 

From  the  point  of  view  of  economics  and  industrial  history 
these  various  legal  forms  are  less  significant  than  Tendencies  of 
the  direction  of  integration.    The  effects  and  of  hSo^tei 
purposes  of  combinations  are  different  with  re-  combinations 
spect  to  the  direction  of  the  tendency  toward  centralization 


484  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

of  control.  The  drawing  together  of  a  number  of  firms  en- 
gaged in  producing  the  same  goods  for  the  purpose  of  cen- 
tralizing the  control  of  production  and  sales  is  likely  to  result 
in  an  attempt  to  secure  some  measure  of  monopoly  power. 
The  association  can  scarcely  be  satisfied  with  anything  short 
of  a  significant  control  of  prices.  Horizontal  combination 
thus  tends  directly  toward  monopoly.  Firms  engaged  in  the 
manufacture  of  products  which  are  really  stages  in  the  pro- 
duction of  a  single  finished  product  may  find  a  very  different 
set  of  motives  for  combination.  Such  a  vertical  integration 
of  industry  is  in  large  measure  a  positive  improvement  in 
industrial  technique.  It  is  not  at  all  essential  that  there 
should  be  any  acquisition  of  monopolistic  powers  to  justify 
the  formation  of  such  associations.  The  ultimate  result  is 
to  intensify  competition  in  the  production  of  the  finished 
product. 

The  development  of  the  firm  of  John  Brown  &  Co.,  Ltd., 
of  Sheffield  indicates  the  characteristic  features  of  the  process 
Brown  &  Co.  of  vertical  combination.  The  firm  had  always 
of  Sheffield  ]^Qeii  self-contained  for  the  manufacture  of 
rolled  and  heavy  steel  products,  but  was  dependent  upon 
outside  interests  for  the  supplies  of  raw  materials  and  for 
the  greater  part  of  the  market  for  its  products.  They  soon 
found  it  advisable  to  assure  an  unfailing  supply  of  ore  and 
coal  by  the  acquisition  of  iron  mines  in  Spam,  Lincolnshire, 
and  Northamptonshire,  and  of  several  collieries  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  main  works  at  Sheffield.  In  1890  it  was  realized 
that  further  economies  in  production  could  be  secured  by 
alliance  with  firms  using  the  armor  plate,  marine  shaftings, 
forgings,  and  castings  that  constituted  the  chief  products  of 
the  Sheffield  works.  The  establishment  of  new  works  for 
general  shipbuilding  was  deemed  wholly  unpractical,  and  all 
the  essential  advantages  of  increased  scale  of  management 
could  be  obtained  by  amalgamation.  Arrangements  were 
finally  made  for  union  with  the  Clydebank  Engineering  and 
Shipbuilding  Company,  so  that  the  combined  firms  were  pre- 
pared to  undertake  every  aspect  of  the  work  of  shipbuilding. 
In  order  to  extend  operations  to  war  vessels  as  well  as  to  mer- 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  485 

cantile  trade  the  combination  was  extended  in  1903  to  include 
Thomas  Firth  &  Sons,  Ltd.,  of  Sheffield,  manufacturers  of 
ordnance  and  projectiles.  The  establishment  is  thus  quali- 
fied to  undertake  the  manufacture  of  complete  liners  or 
battleships  without  dependence  upon  any  outside  firm  for  any 
portion  of  the  work. 
The  activities  of  the  firm  and  its  alliances  are  as  follows: 

Raw  materials: 

IRON  ORE.  Spain,  Lincolnshire,  and  Northamptonshire. 
COLLIERIES.  Sheffield. 
LIMESTONE  QUARRIES. 
Intermediate  products: 
PIG  IRON.  Atlas  Works  at  Sheffield. 
MALLEABLE  IRON.  Atlas  Works  at  Sheffield. 
STEEL  INGOTS. 
ALL  DESCRIPTIONS  or  ROLLED  AND  HEAVY  STEEL  PRODUCTS. 

Armor  Plate,  castings,  forgings,  ship-plates,  angles,  etc. 
TOOL  STEEL. 

Complementary  finished  products: 

ORDNANCE  AND  PROJECTILES.  Norfolk  and  Tinsley  Works,  Shef- 
field. 

Coventry  Ordnance  Works,  Ltd. 
Naval    Gun    Mounting    Works, 

Glasgow. 

Ammunition  Works,  Rochester. 
RAILWAY  MATERIAL. 
MACHINERY  OF  VARIOUS  KINDS. 
Primary  finished  products: 

MERCHANT  VESSELS.  Clydebank  Engineering  and  Shipbuilding 

Works. 

WAR  VESSELS.  (Large  interests  in  Harland  and  Wolff,  Belfast, 
Shipbuilders  and  Engineers.) 

The  development  of  this  firm  is  representative  of  a  tend- 
ency that  is  general  within  the  iron  and  steel  trade  of  Great 
Britain.  There  has  been  extensive  attempt  made  to  coordi- 
nate the  various  stages  hi  the  production  of  finished  metal 
work  so  as  to  bring  under  one  control  raw  materials,  inter- 
mediate, and  finished  products.  The  circumstances  that 
have  induced  this  development  can  be  classified  under  three 
heads:  market  considerations,  process  considerations,  and 
producing  considerations. 


486  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

Market  conditions  in  the  iron  and  steel  trade  are  complex. 
The  markets  for  raw  materials  are  particularly  sensitive  and 
Advantages  in  unstable,  and  the  markets  for  the  essential  inter- 
marketing  mediate  products,  pig  iron  and  steel,  only  slightly 
less  so .  Firms  producing  these  goods  for  a  market  are  in  a  very 
precarious  position,  and  firms  dependent  upon  buying  such 
goods  in  the  open  market  are  subject  to  many  uncertainties 
in  securing  deliveries  at  proper  intervals  and  satisfactory 
prices.  The  large  capital  equipment  of  plants  in  the  iron  and 
steel  industry  exerts  pressure  on  the  management  to  keep  the 
plant  running  as  long  as  it  is  possible  to  recover  the  specific 
costs  of  operation;  all  hope  of  earning  interest  on  the  fixed 
capital  must  frequently  be  abandoned.  If  production  is  in 
the  hands  of  firms  controlling  only  one  stage  in  the  industry 
there  is  grave  danger  that  the  market  will  become  seriously 
overstocked  with  particular  types  of  goods,  for  the  firms  pro- 
ducing finished  products  might  check  their  production  sooner 
than  the  firms  turning  out  the  basic  intermediate  products. 
Serious  dislocations  would  also  be  the  result  of  any  circum- 
stances that  should  stimulate  production  of  finished  products 
at  a  time  of  slackened  output  of  ore  or  pig  iron.  The  close 
correlation  of  the  production  of  the  products  at  the  various 
stages  can  thus  be  best  secured  under  conditions  of  vertical 
integration.  For  the  most  part  the  irregularities  in  the  de- 
mand for  iron  and  steel  products  are  seldom  general  to  the 
entire  industry;  there  are  sectional  or  branch  depressions 
which  might  be  disastrous  to  a  highly  specialized  firm,  though 
a  larger  establishment  would  find  it  possible  to  divert  its  ac- 
tivities into  profitable  channels,  but  under  such  conditions 
it  is  obviously  desirable  that  the  output  of  the  basic  commod- 
ities should  be  carefully  adjusted  to  the  specific  demands  of 
the  moment. 

Process  considerations  consist  in  the  advantages  and  econ- 
omies derived  from  the  arrangement  of  works  for  the  con- 
Processcon-  tinuous  performance  of  several  processes  with 
siderations  one  heating  of  the  ore  and  iron.  Isolated  firms 
carrying  on  these  operations  would  be  obliged  to  heat  the 
metal  several  times;  once  for  smelting,  once  for  producing 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  487 

malleable  iron  or  steel,  once  for  converting  the  ingots  into 
other  products.  The  costs  of  fuel  are  among  the  most  con- 
siderable costs  in  the  business,  so  that  it  is  an  extremely 
serious  loss  to  heat  the  mass  three  tunes  when  one  heating 
can  be  made  to  suffice.  Under  vertical  control,  the  ore  goes  to 
the  blast  furnace,  the  molten  pig  iron  is  conveyed  to  the  con- 
verters or  refining  furnaces  while  still  at  its  full  heat,  and  the 
steel  ingots  are  drawn  from  the  forms  and  sent  to  the  rolling 
mills  as  soon  as  they  have  cooled  sufficiently  for  the  purposes 
of  that  process.  These  economies  alone  would  be  important 
enough  to  lead  to  much  concentration  of  management,  but 
there  is  further  opportunity  through  the  utilization  of  waste 
gases  and  heat.  The  gases  which  escape  from  the  blast  fur- 
nace can  be  burned  hi  gas  engines  and  used  to  produce  elec- 
tricity or  other  forms  of  power.  Exhaust  steam  can  be  di- 
verted into  turbines  and  utilized.  In  these  ways  many  of 
the  great  demands  for  power  in  driving  the  heavy  machinery 
of  the  plant  can  be  met  by  the  conversion  of  products  that 
would  be  entirely  wasted  hi  isolated  smelting  works.  The 
rolling  mills,  hot  blast  plant,  and  general  machinery  can  be 
entirely,  or  very  nearly,  supplied  with  power  by  the  use  of  the 
heat  and  gas  from  the  coke  ovens  and  blast  furnaces  required 
to  furnish  the  requisite  mass  of  pig  iron:  a  strange  instance  of 
fortuitous  correlation  in  an  industrial  process. 

The  joint  operation  of  these  market  considerations  and 
process  considerations  produces  an  intermediate  group  of 
circumstances  which  can  best  be  distinguished  , 

.  .  .  _  _  -  Economies 

as  producing  problems.  Most  of  these  matters 
center  around  the  problems  of  management  concerned  with 
maintaining  continuity  of  operation  of  the  plant  as  a  whole. 
The  outlay  in  wages  and  fuel  is  not  affected  by  small  differ- 
ences in  the  output.  Costs  per  ton  of  output  will  thus  vary 
according  to  quantity.  A  firm  running  about  three  quarters 
time  reported  costs,  as  shown  on  page  488. 

In  the  case  of  the  firm  from  whose  books  these  figures  were 
taken  there  was  an  annual  saving  of  about  £45,000  by  rea- 
son of  increased  continuity  of  operation.  It  will  be  obvious 
that  no  firm  could  secure  the  regularity  of  deliveries  of  ore 


488 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


19— 
Week  of 

Tons  finished 

Wages  per  ton 

Fuel  per  ton 

Feb.—  

2364 

16/10.5 

2  tons    5  cwt. 

Feb.—  

2222 

17/6.75 

2  tons    5  cwt. 

Increased  cost  in  wages  for  the  second  week,  8.5d.  per  ton. 
Average  wage  cost  for  two  weeks,  17s.  2.5d. 
Fuel  consumed  per  ton,  2  tons,  0.5  cwt. 

When  operating  full  time  costs  were  as  follows: 


Week  of 

Tons  finished 

Wages  per  ton 

Fuel  per  ton 

March  —  

3093 

14/8 

1  ton  10  cwt. 

April  —  

3105 

14/2.5 

1  ton  9  .  75  cwt. 

Average  wage  cost  for  two  weeks,  14s.  5.5d. 
Average  fuel  consumed,  1  ton,  9.87  cwt. 


Saving  in  wages  over  three  quarters  time . 

Saving  in  fuel 

General  charges • 


Total. 


per  ton 
2s.    9.25d. 
2s.   2d. 
Is. 

5s.  11.25d* 


«  Carter,  G.  R.:  The  Tendency  toward  Industrial  Combination  (London,  1913),  118. 

and  coal  from  independent  producers  that  could  easily  be 
maintained  in  mines  under  the  direct  control  of  the  firm. 
Complete  control  of  the  entire  course  of  production  of  a 
group  of  finished  products  thus  affords  the  best  opportuni- 
ties for  securing  the  closely  regulated  flow  of  goods  from  raw 
materials  to  consumers  that  is  well-nigh  essential  to  success 
in  the  iron  and  steel  industry.  Unessential  middlemen's  costs 
are  avoided  and  serious  wastes  of  by-products  eliminated. 

Vertical  combination  at  the  present  time  is  a  manifestation 
of  the  integrating  tendencies  in  industry  that  appear  from 
competition  time  to  time  after  periods  of  excessive  speciali- 
not  destroyed  zation  and  disintegration.  The  modern  phe- 
nomenon may  be  compared  to  the  development  of  centralized 
control  of  craftsmen  under  the  putting-out  system;  the  es- 
sential economies  were  similar  though  not  present  in  such 
striking  form.  Such  integration  does  away  with  not  a  little 
buying  and  selling  of  intermediate  products,  but  it  does  not 
in  any  accurate  sense  of  the  word  restrict  the  area  of  com,-^ 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  489 

petitive  trade,  least  of  all  does  it  tend  to  destroy  the  com- 
petitive order.  The  giant  corporations  and  amalgamations 
in  this  field  cannot  be  cited  as  indicative  of  an  essential  tend* 
ency  toward  nationalized  or  socialized  industry,  though,  of 
course,  such  a  structure  could  be  raised  on  the  foundations 
now  existing.  It  should  be  recognized,  however,  that  such 
a  development  would  not  be  a  logical  outgrowth  of  tendencies 
now  revealed. 

The  difficulty  of  generalizing  with  reference  to  the  entire 
industrial  field  is  well  illustrated  by  the  great  divergence  be- 
tween the  conditions  in  the  iron  and  steel  trade  and  the  textile 
trades.  In  the  former  the  tendency  is  toward  vertical  inte- 
gration, hi  the  latter  there  has  been  no  tendency  The  textile 
toward  further  integration  since  the  early  nine-  trades 
teenth  century;  in  fact,  there  seems  to  be  some  tendency 
toward  more  definite  separation  between  the  various  branches 
of  the  industry  than  was  common  in  1800.  At  that  time  it 
seemed  as  if  there  might  be  an  advantage  in  the  combi- 
nation of  spuming  and  weaving,  but  no  such  combination  has 
taken  place.  The  industry  gives  every  evidence  of  having 
reached  a  stable  position  with  reference  to  the  degree  of  ver- 
tical integration.  Spinning,  weaving,  and  dyeing  are  car- 
ried on  by  different  establishments  hi  all  the  major  branches 
of  the  textile  trade,  and  there  are  various  special  phases  of 
manufacture  that  are  similarly  carried  on  in  particular  es- 
tablishments. The  tendencies  toward  combination  in  these 
trades  thus  assumes  the  horizontal  form  by  necessity.  In 
the  early  years  of  the  active  development  of  combination, 
1896-1900,  by  far  the  greatest  number  of  combinations  an- 
nounced consisted  of  firms  in  the  textile  trades;  hi  a  list  of 
thirty-one  amalgamations  and  combinations,  sixteen  were 
concerned  with  textile  manufacture.  This  numerical  pre- 
dominance is  due  in  part,  of  course,  to  the  relative  predom- 
inance of  the  textile  trades,  but  it  would  seem  likely  that  it 
was  also  an  indication  that  the  problems  created  by  extrav- 
agant competition  were  particularly  severe. 

The  most  spectacular  success  has  been  achieved  by  the 
firm  J.  &  P.  Coats,  Ltd.,  and  its  allies.    The  original  firm  was 


490  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

founded  in  1826  as  a  purely  personal  business  which  remained 
The  thread  in  the  family  for  three  generations.  In  1890 
combination  fae  firm  reorganized  as  a  limited  liability  com- 
pany capitalized  at  £5,750,000;  it  then  occupied  a  very 
prominent  place  in  the  manufacture  of  sewing  cotton;  but, 
if  we  can  form  some  rough  estimate  from  the  relative  invest- 
ments of  capital,  it  could  scarcely  have  controlled  more  than 
one  third  of  the  business  of  the  United  Kingdom  in  sewing 
cottons.  By  the  formation  of  the  Central  Thread  Agency 
the  severity  of  competition  in  the  business  had  already  been 
significantly  reduced.  Notwithstanding  these  developments 
the  Coats  firm  inaugurated  a  new  movement  beginning  in 
1895  and  1896.  Amalgamations  were  formed  by  the  pur- 
chase of  the  stronger  houses:  Kerr  &  Co.  of  Paisley,  in  1895; 
Clarke  &  Co.  of  Paisley,  James  Chadwick  &  Co.  of  Bolton, 
Jonas  Brook  &  Co.  of  Meltham,  in  1896.  The  reorganized 
corporation  was  capitalized  at  £12,000,000.  The  property 
of  the  company  included  sixteen  factories,  some  of  which  were 
located  in  the  United  States,  Canada,  France,  Spain,  and 
Russia;  sixty  branch  houses  and  one  hundred  and  fifty 
depots.  Since  amalgamation  the  firm  has  paid  dividends  of 
twenty  per  cent  or  more,  in  addition  to  some  bonuses.  These 
achievements,  too,  were  not  the  result  of  high 

Results  .  . 

prices.  A  statement  in  the  Financial  Supple- 
ment of  the  London  Times  of  December  31, 1906,  is  favorable 
to  the  company,  but  apparently  disinterested : 

The  average  price  of  the  standard  length  of  200  yards  six  cord 
[says  the  writer]  has  actually  been  2d.  per  gross  of  144  spools  higher 
than  the  average  price  ruling  during  the  twenty-five  years  preced- 
ing the  amalgamation ;  but  with  larger  discounts  to  the  trade  allowed 
since  the  amalgamation  the  price  is  actually  less.  Wages  have  risen 
considerably,  as  also  has  the  fine  cotton  used,  as  well  as  the  coal. 
Spool-wood  —  an  important  item  —  is  25  to  30  per  cent  dearer  than 
formerly.  In  effect,  then,  thread  costs  more  to  make  by  the  com- 
bination even  with  the  economies  attainable  under  the  combination, 
yet  the  consumers  (or  at  all  events  the  retailers)  are  paying  somewhat 
less  for  it  than  they  did  when  it  cost  less  to  make.  It  is  not  the  case 
that  the  Coats  combination  has  forced  out  competitors  by  under- 
selling them.  .  .  .  The  combination  has  improved  the  character  of 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  491 

its'products,  while  it  has  immensely  reduced  the  cost  of  distribu- 
tion. .  .  .  What  the  "Combine"  has  done  is  to  destroy  the  business 
of  the  middlemen,  who  stood  between  the  thread  manufacturers 
and  the  drapers  and  large  customers.  All  these  smaller  dealers  and 
consumers  can  now  buy  direct  from  the  Central  Agency  on  the 
same  terms  as  the  wholesale  dealer.1 

The  success  of  the  combination  was  due  to  the  skill  and 
judgment  of  the  leaders  both  in  the  detailed  organization  of 
the  business  and  in  the  absence  of  any  illusions  Elements  of 
about  the  value  of  a  comprehensive  amalgama-  success 
tion  of  all  the  firms  in  the  industry.  They  were  never  de- 
luded by  the  megalomania  of  promotions.  None  but  the 
best  organized  firms  were  brought  into  the  combination, 
although  many  houses  were  omitted;  and,  although  it  might 
seem  that  the  combination  was  not  in  a  position  to  dominate 
the  industry  because  of  the  large  capitalization  of  these  ex- 
cluded firms,  the  superior  efficiency  of  the  Coats  firm  really 
placed  them  in  a  position  of  substantial  power. 

In  1897  the  excluded  firms  formed  a  combination  of  their 
own,  organizing  a  holding  company  under  the  name  of  the 
English  Sewing  Cotton  Company.  Friendly  Failure  of  the 
relations  were  established  with  the  Coats  firm  rivals 
which  took  some  of  the  stock  of  the  English  Sewing  Cotton 
Company  and  entered  into  a  pooling  agreement.  By  the 
terms  of  the  agreement  both  companies  were  to  abide  by  the 
existing  condition  of  the  trade :  existing  proportions  of  trade  in 
areas  reached  by  both  companies  were  to  be  maintained  un- 
changed, and  certain  other  markets  were  reserved  to  one  or 
the  other  company.  In  the  following  year  the  English  Sew- 
ing Cotton  Company  encouraged  various  firms  in  the  United 
States  to  form  a  combination,  and  the  American  Thread 
Company  was  ultimately  organized.  The  relations  between 
the  companies  were  close;  the  American  Company  took  stock 
in  the  English  Sewing  Cotton  Company,  and  the  three  man- 
aging directors  of  the  latter  sat  on  the  board  of  the  Ameri- 
can Company.  When  the  pooling  arrangement  with  Coats  is 

1  Cited  by  Macrosty,  H.  W. :  The  Trust  Movement  in  British  Industry  (Lon- 
don, 1907),  128-29. 


492  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

taken  into  consideration  it  will  be  seen  that  scarce  any  vestige 
of  competition  was  left  in  this  industry. 

The  finances  of  the  English  Company  were  badly  man- 
aged, and  in  1901  the  lack  of  judgment  and  looseness  of  man- 
agement could  no  longer  be  concealed.  It  appeared  that 
excessive  prices  had  been  paid  for  the  good-will  of  many  of  the 
constituent  companies,  promoter's  profits  arising  out  of  the 
American  Thread  Company  had  not  been  kept  sufficiently 
distinct  on  the  books  of  the  English  Company,  and  the  actual 
conduct  of  business  was  scandalously  neglected.  A  scheme 
of  reorganization  was  prepared  with  the  assistance  of  one  of 
the  Coats  firm,  and  reforms  were  carried  out  under  the  tute- 
lage of  Coats.  The  stronger  combination  has  thus  acquired 
a  moral  ascendancy  over  the  greater  part  of  the  trade.  The 
substance  of  monopoly  power  is  in  their  hands  with  reference 
to  the  trade  of  the  world  in  this  highly  specialized  product. 

Concentration  has  not  proceeded  to  such  lengths  in  other 
branches  of  the  textile  industry,  though  the  number  of 
Qualified  sue-  competing  firms  has  been  greatly  reduced  by 
cesses  else,-  combination.  However,  it  is  clear  that  the 
field  of  competition  has1  been  significantly  re- 
stricted, and  there  is  no  ground  for  supposing  that  the  move- 
ment has  reached  a  stable  equilibrium.  The  published  re- 
ports of  most  of  these  companies  reveal  a  discouraging  finan- 
cial situation:  some  have  paid  no  dividends,  and  others  only 
the  most  moderate  rates.  The  disappointment  of  large  ex- 
pectations may  well  have  an  influence  upon  future  devel- 
opments of  combinations.  It  is  scarcely  possible  to  know 
whether  one  should  anticipate  further  concentration  or  some 
measure  of  reaction. 

The  larger  outlines  of  the  history  of  combinations  in  the 
textile  industries  are  representative  of  the  tendencies  in  the 
other  portions  of  the  industrial  field.  There  have  been  a  few 
spectacular  successes;  competition  has  been  notably  re- 
stricted; temporary  forms  of  combination  have  proved  to  be 
relatively  unstable,  and  the  greater  mass  of  amalgamations 
have  failed  to  realize  the  expectations  of  profit  that  were 
entertained. 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  493 

III 

These  tendencies  toward  combination  are  variously  inter- 
preted by  radicals  and  conservatives.  The  socialists,  and 
many  with  socialistic  leanings  that  are  not  suf-  r 

.        ,  ,  .  Interpretations 

ficiently  pronounced  to  lead  to  definite  avowal 
of  such  doctrine,  invest  the  whole  subject  with  a  large  signif- 
icance. Although  Marxian  doctrines  are  seldom  mentioned, 
the  history  of  these  recent  years  is  read  as  a  fulfillment  of  the 
earlier  phases  of  the  prophecies  of  Karl  Marx.  The  increase 
in  the  scale  of  business  enterprise  has  taken  place  in  at  least 
as  great  a  measure  as  he  was  inclined  to  expect.  There  is  sub- 
stantive evidence  of  a  "tendency,"  and,  with  little  recourse  to 
theoretical  demonstration,  it  is  assumed  that  this  tendency 
will  by  necessity  proceed  to  the  extreme  logical  conclusions. 
Combinations  and  monopolies  thus  constitute  the  last  phase 
of  the  Industrial  Revolution,  representing  the  culmination  of 
the  forces  set  hi  motion  by  the  Great  Inventions.  The  exist- 
ence of  the  evils  of  the  competitive  order  and  the  evident 
dangers  from  private  monopoly  become,  in  the  socialistic 
mind  of  the  socialist,  proof  that  the  "competitive  views 
order"  is  doomed.  The  movement  is  interesting  to  the  so- 
cialists also  from  another  point  of  view:  these  industrial  or- 
ganizations afford  some  intimation  of  the  ultimate  character 
of  socialized  industry.  "It  necessitates  not  so  much  changes 
in  organization  as  an  alteration  of  the  amis  to  which  that  or- 
ganization is  to  be  directed."  x  The  concreteness  of  these 
developments  has  made  it  possible  for  socialists  to  present  a 
view  of  the  new  society  that  is  wholly  freed  from  the  obvious 
utopianism  of  earlier  writing.  The  Fabians  add  to  this  ele- 
ment of  seductiveness  their  patience  hi  waiting  for  the  new 
industrial  day.  They  have  a  remedy  for  monopoly,  and  it 
is  not  merely  a  policy,  but  a  faith  in  irresistible  historical 
tendencies. 

The  historical  interpretation  of  which  their  view  is  a  part 
makes  it  impossible  to  discuss  the  nationalization  of  indus- 

1  Macrosty,  H.  W.:  Trusts  and  the  State  (London,  1901,  The  Fabian  Series), 
287. 


494  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

try  merely  as  a  policy  which  we  are  free  to  adopt  or  reject. 
It  is  essential  to  recognize  the  importance  of  the  socialistic 
faith  in  an  imperative  necessity  for  this  solution  of  the  prob- 
lem. The  proper  object  of  criticism  and  discussion  is  not  the 
policy  advocated,  but  the  interpretation  of  industrial  his- 
tory upon  which  the  faith  is  based. 

It  is,  of  course,  impossible  to  achieve  a  final  interpretation 
of  any  series  of  historical  events,  so  that  it  would  be  unschol- 
arly  to  intimate  that  the  socialistic  interpretation  can  be 
Basis  of  disproved  or  another  view  positively  estab- 

critidsm  lished  in  its  place.  It  is,  however,  legitimate  to 

point  out  the  possibility  of  another  interpretation,  and  thus 
throw  some  measure  of  doubt  upon  the  dogmatic  conclusions 
of  the  socialistic  writers. 

It  has  been  a  purpose  of  this  present  study  to  show  that 
the  history  of  industry  is  susceptible  of  other  than  the  usual 
socialistic  interpretation,  so  that  the  entire  text  constitutes 
the  primary  answer  to  the  socialistic  view,  but  with  reference 
to  the  particular  issues  raised  by  the  problem  of  monopoly 
some  special  discussion  may  be  in  place.  It  would  seem  that 
the  fundamental  features  of  the  socialistic  interpretation  are : 
the  alleged  inherent  instability  of  the  forms  of  industrial  and 
commercial  organization  evolved  during  the  period  of  the 
Industrial  Revolution;  the  notion  that  the  cause  of  all  the 
trouble  is  the  dehumanizing  influence  of  machinery. 

There  has  been  a  long  struggle  between  two  great  principles 
[says  Macrosty].  Competition  came  into  the  industrial  world  to 
interpretation  free  trade  from  feudalism,  and,  having  done  that 
of  industrial  work,  played  havoc  with  the  lives  of  men.  It  called 
history  jn^o  exjstence  the  great  opposing  principle  of  asso- 

ciation, by  which  a  series  of  bulwarks  against  individualism  has 
been  built  up  in  the  trade  union,  the  cooperative  society,  the  muni- 
cipality, and  the  central  Government.  Finally,  competition  turn- 
ing against  itself,  has  ended  in  combination,  and  private  monopoly 
threatens  to  overwhelm  the  State  by  economic  and  political  op- 
pression. We  cannot  turn  back  the  march  of  economic  progress; 
for  good  or  for  evil  we  must  now  face  the  concentration  of  industry. 
We  cannot  go  back  to  competition,  but  we  can  direct  the  new  tend- 
ency into  safe  channels.  In  the  collectivisation  of  industry  lies 
the  future  hope  of  society,  and  it  will  be  attained  by  the  gradual 


COMBINATIONS  AND  MONOPOLIES  495 

transfer  of  one  branch  of  production  after  another  under  the  control 
of  the  municipality  or  the  Government. l 

The  socialistic  position  makes  the  question-begging  assump- 
tion that  there  is  no  possible  middle  course  between  the  most 
extreme  freedom  of  competition  and  absolute  A  middle 
monopoly.  The  present  organization  of  society  course 
is  regarded  as  being  hopelessly  unstable  because  it  represents 
neither  extreme;  competition  is  by  no  means  unregulated, 
monopoly  is  not  complete.  The  conservative  interpretation 
of  recent  events  turns  upon  the  faith  in  the  existence  of  this 
middle  course.  It  is  deemed  possible  for  industry  to  achieve 
some  measure  of  stability  of  organization  without  becoming 
entirely  monopolistic  on  the  one  hand,  and  without  entirely  los- 
ing all  elements  of  a  competitive  character  on  the  other  hand. 
Neither  monopoly  nor  competition  appears  in  its  absolute 
form;  neither  can  entirely  exclude  the  other.  The  existence 
of  monopoly  is  not  incompatible  with  significant  elements  of 
competition  in  price-making,  and  it  is  entirely  conceivable 
that  a  society  should  remain  in  large  measure  competitive 
despite  the  presence  of  a  considerable  number  of  industries 
and  occupations  carried  on  under  monopoly  conditions. 

The  relativity  of  these  terms  is  best  illustrated,  perhaps, 
by  the  trade  in  books  and  certain  kinds  of  patented  articles. 
The  copyright  or  patent  confers  an  absolute  Monopoly  and 
monopoly  of  the  privilege  of  producing  particu-  competition 
lar  books  or  goods,  and  yet  the  book  trade  and 
the  trade  in  many  kinds  of  patented  goods  is  dominated  by 
competition.  Novels,  schoolbooks,  books  of  travel,  de  luxe 
editions  of  various  classics  all  sell  at  prices  that  are  not  deter- 
mined by  the  individual  publisher  according  to  the  principle 
of  securing  the  maximum  net  revenue,  but  by  the  general  de- 
mand for  the  particular  class  of  literature  concerned.  The 
existence  of  the  copyrights  on  the  various  books  serves  merely 
to  lift  the  plane  of  competition.  Such  books  sell  for  more 
than  similar  books  on  which  the  copyright  has  expired;  it 
becomes  possible  to  reward  the  author  for  his  work,  but  the 
special  privilege  does  not  become  the  basis  of  a  monopoly 

1  Macrosty,  H.  W.:  op.  cit.  317. 


496  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

price.  This  is  merely  one  of  the  more  striking  cases  of  the 
importance  of  the  collateral  competition  of  substitutes. 
There  are  many  others,  notably  the  various  mineral  waters, 
the  different  systems  of  artificial  illumination,  different 
routes  of  communication  between  two  points,  and  the  like. 

The  phenomena  which  we  usually  describe  as  a  growth  of 
monopoly  are  in  a  sense  changes  in  the  character  of  competi- 
tion. At  times,  to  be  sure,  the  change  results  in  a  dangerous 
weakening  of  competitive  control,  creating  not  an  absolute 
monopoly,  but  a  measure  of  monopoly  control  that  is  suffi- 
cient to  afford  opportunities  for  the  manipulation  of  prices 
in  the  interest  of  the  proprietors  of  the  undertaking. 

The  view  of  the  socialist  must  be  qualified  in  one  other 
respect:  it  is  not  necessary  to  presume  that  competition  con- 
The  essence  of  sists  solely  of  self-destructive  rivalry  in  price- 
competition  cutting.  The  reduction  of  prices  below  the  level 
consistent  with  continued  operation  is  an  unrepresentative 
and  reprehensible  form  of  competition  that  confers  no  benefit 
upon  the  public.  Such  trading  has  never  been  placed  by  law 
in  the  category  of  unfair  competition  unless  there  were  ag- 
gravating circumstances,  but  the  spirit  of  such  transactions 
is  closely  similar  to  prohibited  practices.  It  is  therefore  un- 
fortunate in  the  extreme  that  this  type  of  rivalry  should  be  so 
firmly  fixed  hi  the  mind  of  the  public  as  the  characteristic  form 
of  competition.  The  selling  at  varying  prices  that  can  remain 
a  permanent  basis  of  trading  is  not  sufficiently  distinguished 
from  the  disastrous  price-cutting  that  is  intended  by  both 
parties  to  be  wholly  temporary.  The  existence  of  price  agree- 
ments hi  a  trade  is  not  inconsistent  with  important  competi- 
tion in  the  character  of  the  services  rendered. 

The  socialistic  doctrine  of  the  causative  importance  of  ma- 
chinery is  related  to  the  problem  of  monopoly  in  a  round- 
about  fashion.  The  productivity  of  industry 
with  the  mature  mechanical  technique,  together 
with  its  ownership  by  a  relatively  small  class  of  capitalists,  is 
made  the  explanation  of  commercial  crises.  There  is  a 
chronic  and  periodic  over-production  because  the  power  of 
the  consuming  public  to  buy  is  disproportionate  to  the  power 


497 

of  society  to  produce.  The  capitalists  thus  defeat  their  own 
ends  by  withholding  from  the  laboring  classes  then*  just  share 
of  the  purchasing  power  of  the  community. 

It  is  impossible  to  answer  this  body  of  doctrine  in  brief 
compass,  and  much  of  the  discussion  is  a  matter  of  pure 
theory.  It  may  be  sufficient  to  repeat  the  proposition  ad- 
vanced in  an  earlier  chapter,  that  machinery  was  at  once  a 
result  and  a  cause  of  some  of  the  phenomena  of  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution.  In  so  far  as  one  approaches  these  prob- 
lems as  a  matter  of  historical  narrative  the  development  of 
machine  technique  was  a  result  of  an  expanding  market  for 
new  commodities.  Changes  in  the  character  and  extent  of 
the  market  constitute  the  background  of  industrial  history, 
and  there  are  progressive  changes  in  the  degree  of  the  division 
of  labor  to  correspond  with  developments  of  the  market.  The 
disintegration  of  industry  by  the  division  of  labor  must  needs 
be  balanced  by  countervailing  tendencies  toward  integration. 
The  development  in  industrial  history  is  for  this  reason  not  hi 
a  single  direction:  neither  exclusively  disintegration,  nor  ex- 
clusively integration.  There  is  an  oscillation.  The  combi- 
nation movement  represents  the  contemporary  aspects  of  a 
set  of  integrating  tendencies,  and,  if  we  may  judge  by  the 
past,  we  may  feel  confident  that  these  tendencies  precisely 
will  not  proceed  to  any  rigid  logical  conclusion.  The  mar- 
keting conditions  hi  the  different  branches  of  industry  are 
widely  different,  and  we  may  presume  that  the  measure  of 
integration  ultimately  achieved  will  bear  relation  to  the 
specific  problems  of  each  industry. 

The  conservative  is  thus  inclined  to  approach  the  prob- 
lems of  monopoly  in  somewhat  the  frame  of  mind  of  the  prac- 
tical politician;  he  is  disposed  to  deal  with  each  The  conserva- 
case  separately,  unprejudiced  by  dogmatic  con-  tive  attitude 
ceptions  of  policy.    There  is  in  his  mind  an  indisposition  to 
regard  any  single  policy  as  a  complete  remedy  for  the  troubles 
we  now  experience  with  monopolies.     The  various  sugges- 
tions now  current  offer  different  prospects  of  attaining  the 
desired  end.    The  limitation  of  the  size  of  corporations  pre- 
sents possibilities,  but  it  is  hard  to  regard  such  a  proposition 


498  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

as  an  ultimate  solution  of  any  considerable  number  of  prob- 
lems. The  notion  of  having  a  limit  seems  good,  but  the 
practical  determination  of  any  limit  would  seem  likely  to 
become  a  penalty  upon  efficiency.  Furthermore,  if  there  is 
any  correlation  between  the  size  of  the  corporations  in  a  given 
field  and  the  market,  the  limit  would  be  by  necessity  elastic. 
It  might  prove  to  be  something  in  the  nature  of  the  limit  of 
note  issue  at  the  Bank  of  France  —  a  limit  that  was  increased 
whenever  there  was  any  prospect  that  it  might  be  reached. 
Limitation  of  profits,  if  successful,  would  almost  certainly 
diminish  the  stimulus  to  efficient  management.  > 

In  English-speaking  countries  the  control  of  large-scale 
enterprise  is  tending  to  combine  three  elements:  publicity 
Tendencies  in  of  accounts,  public  fixation  of  prices  in  certain 
legislation  industries,  and  the  suppression  of  predatory 
competition  by  legislative  and  administrative  regulation. 
The  results,  as  yet,  leave  much  to  be  desired. 

Despite  all  our  experience  and  thought  [says  Jethro  Brown]  the 
best  that  can  be  said  is  that  we  are  groping  our  way  toward  sound 
conclusions.  Some  useful  data  we  have;  and  some  principles  seem 
to  be  clearly  established.  But  the  precise  significance  of  the  data 
is  often  doubtful;  and  the  value  of  established  principles  is  limited 
by  the  fact  that  we  have  to  apply  them,  not  to  an  ideal  world,  but  to 
a  world  of  actual  facts  around  us.  Many  things  are  desirable  that 
are  not  practicable;  much  that  is  practicable  is  not  desirable.  I 
believe  that,  if  we  are  to  proceed  on  right  lines,  we  should  begin  with 
a  recognition  of  the  difficulties  before  us,  their  complicated  char- 
acter, and  their  manifold  ramifications.1 

1  Brown,  W.  Jethro:  The  Prevention  and  Control  of  Monopolies  (London, 
1914),  47-48. 


CHAPTER  XX 

INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST 

I.  MATERIAL  WELL-BEING 

No  question  is  more  interesting  to  the  average  reader  on 
economic  history  than  the  relative  well-being  of  the  lower 
classes  at  different  historical  periods.  Many  seem  to  feel 
that  economic  history  fails  to  make  any  material  contri- 
bution to  knowledge  unless  some  conclusions  are  possible 
with  reference  to  the  welfare  of  society.  In  general,  no  very- 
satisfactory  answer  is  possible.  Statistical  material  is  so 
scant  and  so  different  in  character  at  different  periods  that  no 
details  are  available.  At  the  same  tune  it  is  possible  to  reach 
some  objective  judgment  which  may  serve  in  a  measure  to 
answer  the  doubts  that  arise  as  to  the  reality  of  the  "  prog- 
ress" which  we  seem  to  find  characteristic  of  the  period  of 
the  Industrial  Revolution. 

Taken  hi  their  entirety  the  changes  in  the  form  and  char- 
acter of  social  life  have  resulted  in  real  improvement  in  the 
material  basis  of  life.  The  improvement  is  rela-  Material 
tive  only;  we  can  merely  say  that  living  condi-  P10^683 
tions  are  better  than  they  used  to  be,  and  we  can  be  reason- 
ably certain  that  there  is  still  opportunity  for  much  improve- 
ment. The  material  change  can  best  be  measured  in  terms 
of  the  declining  death-rates.  These  rates  express  the  number 
of  deaths  per  thousand  persons,  and,  although  there  are  some 
refinements  of  statistical  method  that  might  effect  small  cor- 
rections, these  official  figures  are  sufficiently  correct  for  the 
purposes  of  such  a  comparison  as  we  have  in  hand. 

The  very  great  decrease  in  mortality  that  is  shown  by  these 
figures  is  perhaps  the  most  decisive  indication  that  can  be 
given  of  the  change  in  living  conditions.  The  figures  are 
somewhat  more  impressive  hi  their  positive  form.  We  think 
more  readily  in  terms  of  the  expectation  of  life  than  in  terms 
of  crude  mortality,  but  unfortunately  the  positive  form  be- 


500 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


DEATH-RATES  PEE  THOUSAND  PERSONS:  ENGLAND  AND  WALES, 
1841-50—1911 


Malta 

Children 

Under  5 

5-10 

10-15 

1841-50  .  . 

22.2 

21.0 

66.0 

9.0 

5.3 

1861-70  

22.3 

20.4 

68.6 

8.0 

4.5 

1881-90  

19.7 

17.6 

56.8 

5.3 

3.0 

1901-10  

16.4 

14.4 

57.7 

4.3 

2.5 

1911  

15.3 

13.3 

43.7 

3.4 

2.1 

comes  more  complex  because  the  expectation  of  life  changes 
each  year.  Suffice  to  say  that  several  years  have  been  added 
Basis  of  the  to  the  reasonable  expectation  of  life.  This 
achievement  achievement  is  perhaps  more  largely  an  achieve- 
ment of  science  than  of  industry;  the  result  is  due  to  the  de- 
velopment of  preventive  medicine  and  public-health  legis- 
lation. However,  these  changes  have  been  a  part  of  the 
change  that  we  think  of  as  the  Industrial  Revolution;  they 
have  been  an  integral  part  of  the  new  social  order  that  has 
developed,  affording  the  clearest  indication  of  the  new  social 
conscience. 

The  question  of  material  well-being,  however,  presents  it- 
self in  another  guise;  the  relative  condition  of  the  different 
classes  as  compared  with  each  other  proves  more  interesting 
to  most  readers  than  the  more  general  matter  of  the  condition 
of  society  as  a  whole.  It  is  easily  forgotten,  however,  that 
any  general  change  must  appear  among  the  most  numerous 
classes,  so  that  a  general  social  improvement,  such  as  we  find 
indicated  by  the  lower  death-rates,  must  be  evidence  of  sub- 
stantive change  for  the  better  among  the  lower  classes.  But 
more  concretely,  it  is  desirable  to  know  whether  wages  have 
wages  and  "gone  up  as  rapidly  as  incomes  from  property, 
incomes  jjas  ^he  position  of  unskilled  laborers  changed 

for  the  better?  Are  skilled  laborers  relatively  more  numerous 
and  better  paid?  Is  the  class  of  persons  with  moderate  in- 
comes increasing  or  decreasing  relatively  to  the  class  of  per- 
sons with  very  large  incomes?  These  questions  are  unfor- 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       501 

tunately  difficult  to  answer.  The  material  available  is  none 
too  plentiful,  and  the  interpretation  of  existing  statistics  pre- 
sents many  problems  that  are  not  yet  satisfactorily  solved. 

It  is  somewhat  artificial  to  attempt  statistical  statement 
of  changes  in  the  general  rates  of  wages.  Averages  leave  out 
many  details  that  are  of  real  importance.  But  Differences  in 
there  is  a  measure  of  reality  in  statements  of  wages 
average  wages,  because  there  is  a  perceptible  tendency  toward 
the  establishment  of  rates  of  pay  that  are  designed  to  be  re- 
lated to  the  strength  and  skill  required  by  the  occupation. 
Labor  is  not  as  mobile  as  would  be  necessary  to  give  full  ef- 
fect to  these  tendencies  toward  equalization  of  wages;  differ- 
ences persist  between  occupations  and  between  localities. 
The  rates  of  wages  for  unskilled  agricultural  labor  tend  to  be 
somewhat  different  from  the  rates  for  unskilled  industrial 
labor.  Likewise,  the  wages  that  prevail  in  London  tend  to 
be  somewhat  higher  than  the  wages  hi  provincial  towns,  dif- 
ferences that  may  be  partly  explained  by  higher  costs  of  living 
in  the  larger  towns.  Studies  of  general  rates  of  wages  are  thus 
most  significant  if  we  preserve  some  of  these  distinctions  be- 
tween groups  of  wage-earners.  It  would  seem  particularly 
important  to  maintain  some  distinction  between  the  rates 
for  skilled  and  for  unskilled  labor. 

The  differentiation  between  the  skilled  and  the  unskilled 
is  sufficiently  clear  to  influence  any  statistical  statement  of 
a  single  average  wage;  one  could  never  be  cer-  sMiiedandun- 
tainVhether  or  no  changes  were  due  to  circum-  skmed  l&boiers 
stances  that  really  affected  only  one  of  the  two  classes.    It  is 
thus  desirable  to  distinguish  as  carefully  as  possible  between 
the  wages  of  these  two  groups.    Much  light  is  thrown  upon 
some  of  the  important  social  problems  involved,  if  this  dis- 
tinction is  carefully  maintained.     The  unskilled  laborers 
are  close  to  what  is  coming  to  be  called  the  "  pov-  The  "  poverty 
erty  line";  which  is  presumed  to  represent  the  Une" 
minimum  income  compatible  with  the  maintenance  of  full 
physical  vigor.    The  most  notable  recent  estimate  of  this  ir- 
reducible minimum  is  that  of  Seebohm  Rowntree.    He  esti- 
mates as  follows  the  family  income  necessary  before  the  War : 


502  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

«.     a. 

Expenditure  on  food 12    9 

Rent  and  rates 4    0 

Clothing,  including  boots 2    3 

Fuel 1  10 

Light,  washing  materials,  furniture,  etc 10 


21    8  per  week 

The  dietary  assumed  in  this  estimate  "contained  no  butcher's 
meat  or  butter,  and  allowed  such  a  luxury  as  tea  but  once  a 
week.  The  only  meat  was  bacon  and  very  little  of  that.  It 
was  a  dietary  'more  stringent  than  would  be  given  to  any 
able-bodied  pauper  in  any  workhouse  in  England  or  Wales.' 
Taking  the  lowest  cooperative  store  prices,  he  found  that 
this  dietary  would  cost  3s.  each  for  the  adults  and  2s.  3d. 
each  for  the  children  per  week.  Thus  the  cost  of  food  alone 
would  be  12s.  9d  per  week."  The  other  estimates  were  based 
on  similar  presumptions  of  minute  care  in  expenditure.  In 
all  probability  the  average  family  of  such  circumstances 
would  not  succeed  in  distributing  its  income  with  as  much 
intelligence  as  Mr.  Rowntree  presumes;  real  needs  would  in 
many  cases  be  sacrificed  to  indulgence  in  alcohol  and  tobacco 
or  to  extravagant  expenditure  for  clothes.  Such  estimates 
are  subject  to  many  elements  of  error,  but  they  possess  a  real 
significance.  The  unskilled  laborers  have  been  at  all  times 
very  close  to  this  line  of  primary  poverty,  and  at  certain 
periods  of  high  prices  most  of  the  unskilled  have  been  far 
below  this  margin.  Materials  exist  for  a  careful  study  of  the 
condition  of  the  unskilled  laborers  in  agriculture  and  in  cer- 
tain branches  of  industry;  but  as  yet  these  materials  have 
been  very  incompletely  utilized. 

Mr.  Bowley  in  studies  of  wages  in  the  nineteenth  century 
has  endeavored  to  preserve  these  distinctions.  He  has 
Bowiey's  studied  the  changes  in  wages  of  particular 

figures  groups  of  wage-earners,  so  that  his  figures  are 

merely  representative,  typical  to  the  extent  that  conditions 
in  the  groups  chosen  were  f  airly  typical  of  a  larger  class.  The 
skilled  laborers  are  represented  in  the  table  chiefly  by  the 
building  trades,  the  unskilled  town  laborers  being  the  helpers. 
Study  of  these  particular  classes  seemed  desirable  because 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        503 

they  were  least  affected  by  the  great  changes  of  the  Industrial 
Revolution. 

TENTATIVE  TABLE  OF  AVEBAGE  WEEKLY  WAGES  * 


1795 
8.      d. 

1807 
«.      d. 

1824 
a.      d. 

1833 
s.      d. 

1867 

8.         d. 

1897 
«.      d. 

London  artisan  

25    0 

30    0 

30    0 

28    0 

36    0 

40    0 

Provincial  artisan  
Town  laborer  

17    0 
12    0 

22    0 
14    0 

24    0 
16    0 

22    0 
14    0 

27    0 
20    0 

34    0 
25    0 

Agricultural  laborer.  .  . 

9    0 

13    0 

9    6 

10    6 

14    0 

16    0 

*  Bowley,  A.  L.:  Wages  in  the  Nineteenth  Century  (Cambridge,  1900),  70. 

This  tentative  representation  of  the  movement  of  wages  is 
interesting  in  several  particulars.  The  stress  of  the  period 
1824-33  is  evident  among  all  classes  of  workers,  but  it  was 
especially  severe  for  the  agricultural  laborers.  Agricultural 
The  price  of  wheat  was  high,  and  wages  of  9s.  6d.  taborers 
or  10s.  Qd.  must  have  been  wholly  inadequate  for  their  main- 
tenance. The  crisis  of  poor-law  administration  correlates 
definitely  with  these  indications  of  wages;  the  only  periods  of 
greater  distress  were  some  of  the  years  of  the  Napoleonic 
wars.  Further  detail  for  the  agricultural  laborers  is  furnished 
by  figures  from  Sussex,  given  on  the  following  page.  The 
agricultural  laborer  thus  endured  a  relatively  long  period  of 
great  economic  pressure  in  the  early  part  of  the  century. 
Relief  came  partly  through  increased  wages  and  partly 
through  the  fall  in  the  prices  of  the  essential  foodstuffs,  es- 
pecially wheat.  The  greater  stability  of  prices  of  wheat,  after 
the  repeal  of  the  Corn  Laws,  was  also  a  great  boon  to  the  poor. 
The  agricultural  laborer  was  thus  a  burden  on  the  poor-rates 
for  the  greater  portion  of  a  generation. 

The  condition  of  the  town  laborer  is  less  certain;  without 
specific  local  study  we  cannot  be  sure  whether  these  laborers 
were  relatively  independent  of  the  poor-rates  or 
not.  The  position  of  the  artisans,  however, 
seems  to  be  fairly  clear.  The  artisan  seems  to  have  been 
above  the  line  of  primary  poverty  throughout  the  period, 
and  with  the  exception  of  a  few  years  his  economic  position 


504  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

WEEKLY  WAGES  OF  AGRICULTURAL  LABORERS  IN  SUSSEX  * 

Waget  Pecks  of 

«.   d.        wheat  purchasable 

1767-70 86  5.7 

1793 96  6.0 

1795 106  4.5 

1813 130  4.0 

1821 90  5.0 

1822 80  5.6 

1824 96  4.7 

1827 100  5.4 

1830 110  5.5 

1831 12  0  5.8 

1833 100  6.0 

1834 100  7.0 

1836 100  6.6 

1840 100  4.8 

1851., 106  9.0 

1860 117  7.0 

1870 122  8.3 

1872 134  7.3 

1880 136  10.0 

1885 136  13.0 

1887 120  12.0 

1892 120  12.7 

*  Bowley:  op.  cit.  40. 

seems  to  have  grown  steadily  stronger,  so  that  toward  the 
end  of  the  century  the  artisan  was  comfortably  above  the 
poverty  line.  This,  indeed,  seems  to  be  the  chief  result  of 
these  statistical  inquiries,  and,  as  the  purchasing  power  of 
money  was  increasing  until  at  least  1896,  the  movement 
of  real  wages  was  in  general  favorable  to  the  wage-earner. 
There  were  reductions  of  hours  in  nearly  all  trades,  also,  both 
those  regulated  by  general  statutes  and  trades  which  had  se- 
cured the  shorter  hours  by  their  own  efforts.  We  are  cer- 
tainly justified  hi  saying  that  the  skilled  laborers  were  re- 
ceiving at  the  close  of  the  century  appreciably  higher  wages 
for  shorter  hours  of  work. 

It  is  difficult  to  secure  satisfactory  evidence  of  the  relative 
position  of  the  different  classes  in  the  community  to  each 
Returns  of  other.  The  statistics  available  are  fairly  trust- 
income*  worthy  for  incomes  of  £160  or  more,  but  the 
exemption  of  smaller  incomes  makes  it  essential  to  supplement 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        505 

the  figures  for  those  in  receipt  of  labor  incomes  of  less  than 
£160.  The  figures  for  the  different  classes  thus  come  from 
different  sources  and  present  varying  degrees  of  accuracy. 
The  interpretation  of  the  figures  is  also  a  matter  of  consid- 
erable difficulty,  influenced  in  most  cases  by  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  statistician.  Thus,  for  the  year  1907  we  have 
estimates  of  total  income  ranging  from  £1,800,000,000  to 
£1,964,000,000,  all  from  substantially  the  same  figures,  and 
the  publication  of  the  final  figures  for  the  Census  of  Produc- 
tion added  another  figure,  £2,038,000,000.  The  division  of 
the  total  income  between  the  different  classes  is  subject  to 
a  similar  degree  of  uncertainty,  and  conclusions  must  thus 
be  accepted  with  many  mental  reservations. 

The  following  table  has  been  selected  from  a  number  of 
estimates,  including  as  far  as  may  be  estimates  from  the  same 
source.  The  first  set  of  figures  were  prepared  by  Mr.  Robert 
Giffen;  the  figures  for  1851,  1867,  and  1881  are  by  Mr.  L. 
Levi;  those  for  1904  and  1907  are  taken  from  Mr.  Chiozza 
Money's  statements.  An  estimate  by  Mr.  A.  L.  Bowley  has 
been  added  to  indicate  the  degree  of  uncertainty  hi  the  esti- 
mates for  1907.  It  should  further  be  noted  that  Mr.  Money 
is  disposed  to  set  the  larger  incomes  at  maximum  figures  and 
to  estimate  the  smaller  incomes  on  the  most  conservative 
basis.  Giffen  and  Levi  are  more  inclined  to  believe  that  the 
incomes  of  the  lower  classes  were  a  very  considerable  pro- 
portion of  the  total.  Thus  any  tendency  toward  error  in 
the  appended  table  (page  506)  will  probably  be  in  favor  of 
the  larger  incomes. 

The  increase  in  all  classes  of  incomes  is  considerable,  the 
rate  being  in  excess  of  the  rate  of  increase  of  the  population, 
but  it  is  noteworthy  that  the  incomes  of  manual  , 

.  .    .         ,          , .  -„  .        Conclusions 

workers  receiving  less  than  £160  per  year  in- 
creased much  more  rapidly  than  all  other  classes  of  incomes. 
The  incomes  of  the  clerical  workers  and  small  shopkeepers 
increased  least  of  all.  Studies  by  Robert  Giffen  point  to  a 
considerableancrease  in  the  class  of  persons  hi  receipt  of  in- 
comes of  somewhat  more  than  £160.  During  the  period 
1838-82  the  amount  of  property  probated  in  England  in- 


506 


INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 


DISTRIBUTION  OF  INCOMES  IN  THE  UNITED  KINGDOM:  1835-41—1907  * 


Giffen 
1835-41 

Lev\ 
1851 

Levi 
1867 

Levi 
1881 

Money 
1904 

Money 
1907 

Bowley 
1907 

(millions  of  pounds  sterling) 

Above  £160  

250 

[94 
171 
265 

272 

132 

242 
374 

423 

120 

418 
538 

577 

143 

448 
591 

830 

225 
655 
880 

909 

232 
703 
935 

880 

325 
740 
1065 

Below    £160,    non-manual 
workers  

manual  workers  

Total  below  £160.  

Total  

515 

646 

961 

1168 

1710 

1844 

1945 

*  Whittaker,  Sir  T.  P.:  Ownership,  Tenure,  and  Taxation  of  Land  (London,  1914),  52. 

PERCENTAGE  OF  INCREASE  OF  EACH  CLASS  OF  INCOME  OVER  THE  FIGURES 

FOR  1835-41 


1851 

1867 

1881 

1904 

Money 
1907 

Bowley 
1907 

Above  £160  

8.8 

69.2 

130.8 

232.0 

263.6 

252.0 

Below  £160,  non-man- 
ual workers  

40.4 

27.6 

52.1 

139.3 

157.4 

150.0 

manual  workers.  .  .  . 
Total  below  £160. 

41.5 
41.1 

144.5 
103.0 

162.0 
123.0 

283.1 
232.0 

311.2 

252.8 

332.8 
301.8 

Total  

23.5 

86.6 

126.8 

232.0 

250.3 

277.6 

creased  from  £47,000,000  to  £118,000,000,  but  the  average 
amount  of  property  in  each  estate  increased  only  from  £2170 
to  £2600.  The  increase  in  wealth  must  thus  have  been  rather 
well  diffused  among  moderately  well-to-do  people.  The  evi- 
dence furnished  by  the  income  tax  schedules  seems  to  indicate 
that  the  number  of  recipients  of  the  smaller  incomes  remained 
at  least  proportionate.  On  the  whole,  therefore,  we  have 
grounds  for  believing  that  the  artisans  and  middle-class 
people  have  at  least  maintained  their  position  in  the  com- 
munity, if  not  actually  gained  in  relative  well-being. 

In  view  of  these  general  conclusions,  the  growth  of  the  very 
large  fortunes  presents  many  perplexing  problems.  There 
seems  to  be  little  reason  to  doubt  that  there  has 
been  an  extraordinary  development  of  great  in- 
comes, and  a  correlative  concentration  in  the  ownership  of 


Large  fortunes 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       507 

property.  The  facts  have  been  presented  in  a  variety  of 
forms,  and  unfortunately  there  has  been  more  sensationalism 
than  scientific  analysis.  Mr.  Chiozza  Money  divides  the  com- 
munity into  those  who  are  rich,  with  an  income  of  £700  or 
more;  those  who  are  comfortable,  with  incomes  ranging  from 
£160  to  £700;  and  those  in  poverty,  by  reason  of  having  less 
than  £160  per  year. 

DISTRIBUTION  OF  BRITISH  INCOMES:  1908* 


Total  number  of  persons 
dependent  on  the  income 

Income  :  millions  of 
pounds  sterling 

With  more  than  £700  

1,400,000 

634 

With  more  than  £160  but  less 
than  £700  

4,100,000 

275 

With  less  than  £160      

39,000,000 

935 

Total  

44,500,000 

1844 

*  Money,  L.  C.:  Riches  and  Poverty,  1910  (London,  1911),  60. 

More  than  one  third  of  the  entire  income  of  the  United 
Kingdom  is  enjoyed  by  less  than  one  thirtieth  of  its  people. 
Elsewhere  Mr.  Money  puts  the  matter  in  a  slightly  different 
form,  using  the  probate  returns:  "Year  by  year,  with  the 
regularity  of  the  seasons,  about  four  thousand  persons  die 
leaving  between  them  about  £200,000,000  out  of  total  estates 
declared  to  be  worth  about  £300,000,000."  A  measurably 
similar  concentration  of  wealth  is  to  be  found  in  other  coun- 
tries, in  some  apparently  more,  in  some  less  than  in  the  United 
Kingdom.  There  can  be  very  little  doubt  of  the  essential 
accuracy  of  the  facts,  but  we  have  not  yet  succeeded  in  in- 
terpreting the  facts. 

The  designation  of  these  different  groups  of  recipients  of 
incomes  is  a  matter  of  vital  importance.     One  decides  the 
question  in  advance  by  classifying  as  "Poor"  or  Question-beg- 
in "Poverty"  all  who  have  less  than  £160.  «*«*«»• 
The  poverty  line  drawn  by  Mr.  Rowntree  assumed  a  yearly 
income  of  about  £60,  and  it  would  seem  possible  for  people 
to  live  hi  something  more  than  "poverty"  on  incomes  rang- 
ing between  £100  and  £160  annually.     It  would  seem  de- 


508  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

sirable  that  discussions  of  such  social  problems  should  be 
dominated  by  some  measure  of  uniformity  in  the  use  of  such 
strong  words  as  " poverty"  and  its  related  phrases.  One 
will,  of  course,  recognize  that  the  conception  of  the  middle 
class  is  vague,  but  for  that  reason  any  statistical  studies  should 
be  scrupulously  careful  in  the  selection  of  group  designations. 
The  problem  is,  however,  more  than  a  matter  of  minute 
details  of  terminology.  Investigators  have  not  always  been 
clear  in  their  minds  as  to  the  standards  of  comparison  in 
terms  of  which  the  results  were  to  be  judged.  Professor 
Young  has  given  especial  attention  to  this  aspect  of  the  prob- 
lem at  one  of  the  recent  meetings  of  the  American  Economic 
Association.  He  says: 

What  is  the  precise  meaning  of  the  concentration  of  wealth?  By 
what  standards  shall  we  measure  it?  In  general,  I  think,  statisti- 
cians have  been  accustomed  to  use  "concentration  of  wealth"  and 
"  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  "  as  loosely  interchangeable 
terms.  Now  any  departure  from  perfect  equality  in  the  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  means  inequality.  But  is  concentration  to  be  de- 
fined so  broadly  as  this?  Wealth  might  be  distributed  unequally, 
without  there  being  any  amassing  or  concentration  of  any  relatively 
large  part  of  it  in  the  hands  of  any  one  group  or  portion  of  society. 
_  Concentration  means,  then,  a  particular  kind  of 

Concentration       .  ..  ,.       .,     '  *     j  L-I 

inequality  in  distribution.  And,  moreover,  while, 
statistically  speaking,  any  perceptible  degree  of  centralization  must 
be  deemed  concentration,  yet  the  social  problem  of  the  "  concen- 
tration of  wealth"  is  very  certainly  the  problem  of  its  undue  or 
excessive  concentration.  But  we  have  no  definite  standard  of  what 
constitutes  justifiable,  permissible,  or  normal  concentration.  And 
so  the  statistics  are  made  to  indicate  merely  the  gross  departure 
from  a  condition  of  absolute  equality  in  distribution.  One  has  to 
be  on  one's  guard,  therefore,  against  imputing  to  them  a  significance 
which  possibly  they  may  not  have. 

For  the  most  part,  however,  equality  of  distribution  is  interpreted 
literally;  that  is,  it  is  taken  to  mean  absolute  uniformity  in  the  dis- 
tribution of  income.  Thus,  when  a  statistician  throws  his  estimates 
into  the  familiar  form  that  assigns  a  certain  (large)  proportion 
Misleading  of  the  aggregate  income  to  a  certain  (small)  propor- 
comparisons  tion  of  the  families,  the  comparison  inevitably  im- 
plied is  with  a  state  of  things  in  which  50  per  cent  of  the  families 
get  exactly  50  per  cent  of  the  aggregate  income  and  10  per  cent  of 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        509 

the  families  get  10  per  cent  of  the  income.  And  so  with  Dr.  Lorenz's 
graphic  device  for  representing  the  way  in  which  such  proportions 
depart  from  the  line  of  absolutely  equal  distribution.  So,  too,  with 
the  index  of  concentration  which  Professor  Corrado  Gini  has  sug- 
gested as  a  substitute  for  Pareto's,  but  which  increases  when  Pare- 
to's  decreases,  and  which  becomes  unity  when  one  income  receiver 
gets  just  as  much  income  as  another.  .  .  .  All  of  these  ways  of  ex- 
pressing the  degree  of  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  use 
as  a  standard  or  reference  of  comparison  an  absolutely  equal  and 
uniform  distribution. 

Some  or  all  of  these  measures  are  useful  in  comparing  the  distri- 
bution of  wealth  in  different  countries  or  at  different  periods.  But 
none  of  them  is  of  much  help  in  forming  a  judgment  with  reference 
to  the  degree  of  undue  or  excessive  concentration  that  may  exist. 
The  degree  of  departure  from  absolute  equality,  however  measured 
or  stated,  must  itself  be  referred,  if  not  explicitly,  then  in  some 
vague  way,  to  a  standard  of  normal  or  justifiable  concentration. 
A  dead  level  of  uniformity  is  neither  practicable  nor  desirable  as  an 
ideal  of  distributive  justice. 

A  concrete  example  may  give  point  to  this  consideration.  Sup- 
pose that  incomes  in  an  imaginary  society  were  distributed  symmet- 
rically around  the  modal  or  most  common  income,  in  Normal  dis- 
the  form  of  a  normal  frequency  distribution.  This  trfbution 
might  represent  either  one  of  two  things:  (1)  a  normal  distribution 
of  ability  and  a  perfect  proportioning  of  income  to  ability:  (2)  a 
random  or  chance  distribution  of  incomes,  under  the  influence  of 
complex  but  unbiassed  forces.  This  second  condition  would  be 
consistent  with  the  existence  of  real  equality  of  opportunity, 
broadly  understood,  coupled  with  the  presence  of  a  myriad  of  small 
circumstances  that  might  deflect  one  towards  a  lower  or  a  higher 
portion  of  the  income  range.  Now  suppose  that  the  average  fam- 
ily income  is  $1500  and  that  half  the  families  get  incomes  that  are 
within  $200  of  this  average.  Under  such  conditions  the  richer 
half  of  the  families  would  get  58  per  cent  of  the  aggregate  income 
and  the  poorer  half  would  get  42  per  cent.  Increase  the  dispersion 
of  the  distribution  somewhat,  so  that  half  of  the  incomes  is  be- 
tween $1000  and  $2000.  Then  70  per  cent  of  the  aggregate  income 
would  go  to  the  richer  half  of  the  population,  and  30  per  cent  to  the 
poorer  half.  Increase  the  limits  between  which  half  of  the  incomes 
fall  to  $800  and  $2200,  and  the  portion  of  the  aggregate  income  as- 
signed to  the  richer  half  of  the  population  becomes  78  per  cent, 
leaving  22  per  cent  for  the  poorer  half. 

I  do  not  think  that  Dr.  King's  recent  estimates  err  in  the  direc- 
tion of  underestimating  the  present  inequality  in  the  distribution 
of  incomes  in  the  United  States.  He  assigns  about  27  per  cent  of  the 


510  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

aggregate  income  to  the  poorer  half  of  the  families  and  73  per  cent 
to  the  richer  half.  But  this  is  a  slightly  smaller  degree  of  concen- 
tration than  would  be  given  by  a  normal  frequency  distribution 
with  half  the  incomes  falling  between  $900  and  $2100.  This  sug- 
gests that  no  single  or  general  statement  of  the  degree  of  concen- 
tration can  give,  by  itself,  an  adequate  notion  of  the  extent  to  which 
the  existing  distribution  has  to  be  deemed  unsatisfactory.  And 
instead  of  tabulating  statistics  in  the  misleading  form  of  the  pro- 
portions of  aggregate  income  or  property  in  the  hands  of  stated 
Proper  proportions  of  the  population,  it  is  better  to  use  a 

methods  simple  frequency  distribution,  showing  the  relative 

numbers  of  income  receivers  or  property  owners  in  the  different 
income  or  property  classes.  Such  frequency  distribution  can  be 
adequately  described  and  compared,  one  with  another,  and  with 
various  ideal  schemes  of  distribution  by  the  use  of  the  constants  de- 
vised by  Pearson  for  measuring  their  spread,  skewness,  and  curva- 
ture. Such  a  handling  of  income  statistics  serves  to  focus  atten- 
tion upon  the  really  important  things,  which  are  the  upper  and 
lower  limits  of  the  income  scale  and  the  manner  in  which  income 
receivers  are  distributed  between  these  limits.  The  amount  of  con- 
centration, the  amount  of  departure  from  a  condition  of  uniform 
incomes,  does  not  matter  so  much  as  does  the  particular  form  of 
the  income  distribution  underlying  the  concentration.  An  iden- 
tical degree  of  concentration  may  result  from  a  fairly  good  and  a 
very  bad  distribution  of  incomes. 

The  worst  thing  in  the  present  situation  is  undoubtedly  the  ex- 
treme skewness  of  the  income  frequency  curve.  The  mode  —  the 
most  common  magnitude  —  is  very  close  to  the  lower  limit  of  the 
distribution.  Then  the  income  curve  descends  rapidly  as  the 
higher  income  classes  are  brought  under  review,  reaching  a  condi- 
tion of  extreme  attenuation  at  incomes  of  only  a  few  thousand 
dollars,  but  stretching  on  for  an  absurdly  great  distance  before  the 
maximum  incomes  are  reached.  The  problem  of 
poverty  and  the  problem  of  great  fortunes  are  the 
problems  of  the  upper  and  lower  limits  of  this  income  curve.  But, 
seen  rightly,  the  problem  of  great  fortunes  is  only  a  part  of  the 
larger  problem  of  the  general  skewness  of  the  curve,  the  problem, 
that  is,  of  the  extremely  small  average  differences  in  the  incomes  of 
persons  in  the  lower  part  of  the  income  range  and  the  unduly  rapid 
increase  of  these  average  differences  as  the  view  is  shifted  to  suc- 
cessively higher  income  groups.  Put  concretely,  that  10  per  cent 
of  the  families  in  the  country  get  possibly  three  fifths  or  two  thirds 
of  the  aggregate  income  ceases  to  appear  principally  as  a  problem  of 
large  fortunes,  when  it  is  realized  that  to  include  the  richer  10  per 
cent  of  the  families,  one  has  to  go  down  to  somewhere  between  the 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        511 

$1200  and  $1800  income  levels.  The  most  serious  aspect  of  the 
distribution  of  property  and  incomes  in  this  and  in  other  countries 
is  not  the  presence  of  a  larger  or  smaller  degree  of  "  concentration," 
but  the  general  distortion  of  the  whole  income  scheme,  reflecting 
as  it  undoubtedly  does  the  presence  of  a  high  degree  of  inequality 
in  the  distribution  of  opportunity.1 

The  distribution  of  wealth  in  the  more  developed  countries 
cannot  be  regarded  as  satisfactory  at  the  present  time,  but 
from  the  historical  point  of  view  we  are  concerned  The  historical 
in  large  measure  with  the  relative  problem:  Are  iuestion 
matters  going  from  bad  to  worse?  Is  the  direction  of  social 
change  favorable  or  unfavorable?  »  To  these  questions  there 
is  no  certain  answer.  Our  information  about  the  distribu- 
tion of  wealth  in  the  earlier  period  is  too  uncertain  to  admit 
of  confident  comparisons.  One  is  tempted  to  believe  that 
there  were  periods  in  which  there  was  much  less  departure 
from  a  normal  frequency  distribution  than  prevails  at  pres- 
ent; much  less  discrepancy,  too,  between  the  larger  and  the 
smaller  incomes.  But  one  must  go  back  to  the  period  prior 
to  the  Reformation  to  find  such  conditions.  Naturally  we 
have  no  exact  knowledge  of  such  a  remote  period.  How- 
ever, we  have  no  grounds  for  supposing  that  conditions  have 
become  significantly  worse  in  the  United  Kingdom  during 
the  past  century.  The  position  of  the  magnate  was  prima- 
rily dependent  upon  the  holding  of  land  at  the  beginning  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  but  the  enclosure  movement  had  re- 
sulted in  a  concentration  of  landholding  that  was  very  un- 
fortunate. The  great  industrial  fortunes  of  the  present  age 
are  spectacular,  and  yet  one  may  well  doubt  if  the  general  sit- 
uation has  become  worse.  As  Professor  Young  says,  the  very 
large  fortunes  are  only  part  of  the  problem.  Exact  judgment 
of  the  changes  in  the  distribution  of  wealth  is  not  attainable. 
At  the  utmost,  we  are  justified  in  doubting  the  accuracy  of 
the  statements  of  those  who  would  have  us  believe  that  the 
new  industrial  order  is  responsible  for  all  the  difficult  social 

1  Young,  A.  A.:  "Do  the  Statistics  of  the  Concentration  of  Wealth  in  the 
United  States  mean  what  they  are  commonly  assumed  to  mean?"  American 
Economic  Review,  Supp.,  vn  (March,  1917),  148-52. 


512  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

problems  of  the  present  day.  We  can  declare  with  some 
Position  of  the  confidence  that  these  problems  were  not.  wholly 
lower  classes  created  by  the  Industrial  Revolution.  It  may 
be  that  it  would  be  warranted  to  declare  that  on  the  whole 
the  lower  classes  had  gained  some  little  ground  and  found 
themselves  in  a  stronger  economic  position  at  the  close  of  the 
century  than  at  its  beginning.  Of  this  one  must  be  skep- 
tical, and  it  is  quite  essential  to  recognize  that  progress  in 
material  well-being  has  certainly  been  modest  in  its  propor- 
tions. It  should  be  observed,  however,  that  even  a  moderate 
measure  of  improvement  would  be  of  great  significance,  for 
any  change  that  lifted  a  large  class  of  the  population  well 
above  the  "poverty  line"  must  be  considered  highly  im- 
portant even  if  the  ultimate  position  of  the  artisan  class 
left  much  to  be  desired.  Unfortunately,  we  can  scarcely 
more  than  guess  at  these  important  questions. 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  actual  facts,  there  can  be 
no  doubt  but  that  a  growing  consciousness  of  inequality 
Present  dis-  m  distribution  has  been  the  basis,  though  per- 
content  jjaps  no^  ^he  goje  basjS)  of  the  social  unrest. 

The  discontent  has  been  most  consciously  felt  by  the  skilled 
workers  that  we  have  called  the  artisan  class,  and  it  has  been 
their  belief  that  they  have  not  shared  proportionately  in 
the  growth  of  wealth  that  has  been  a  result  of  the  changes 
in  the  industrial  system.  From  the  larger  social  point  of 
view  it  is  of  little  moment  whether  their  conception  of  the 
facts  is  sound  or  not;  the  influence  of  these  beliefs  upon  the 
activities  of  the  artisan  class  is  not  dependent  upon  the  de- 
gree of  accuracy  of  some  of  these  allegations  as  to  material 
well-being  and  the  relative  inequality  in  the  distribution  of 
wealth. 

II.  CHARTISM 

The  Chartist  movement,  like  many  radical  movements, 
is  more  significant  as  affording  an  indication  of  the  tenden- 
importance  of  cies  of  thought  among  the  working  classes  than 
the  movement  as  a  substantive  attempt  to  achieve  certain 
aims.  It  is  interesting  in  its  inception.  The  factors  that 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       513 

gave  it  such  general  vogue  as  it  managed  to  achieve  are  of 
undoubted  importance.  But  when  the  formal  history  of  the 
movement  begins  it  seems  to  be  a  very  trivial  incident,  de- 
spite the  genuine  anxiety  that  was  felt  at  the  tune  by  those 
in  authority.  The  deeper  meanings  of  the  episode,  in  short, 
lie  not  in  the  external  events  of  the  history  of  the  organized 
agitation,  but  rather  in  the  vaguely  felt  need  of  a  genuinely 
democratic  constitution  and  the  new  sense  of  class  conscious- 
ness that  emerged  from  the  propaganda.  The  aims  were  so 
far  beyond  any  possible  achievement  that  the  movement 
assumes  an  appearance  of  futility  that  might  easily  close 
one's  eyes  to  its  real  importance. 

The  intellectual  background  of  Chartism  was  socialistic, 
and,  though  many  of  the  leaders  of  the  later  period  were  not 
keenly  conscious  of  the  entire  body  of  doctrine  intellectual 
that  was  associated  with  the  agitation,  the  vio-  background' 
lence  of  their  propaganda  doubtless  contributed  more  largely 
to  the  growth  of  proletarian  class  consciousness  than  the 
sober  intellectual  tone  characteristic  of  the  group  that  gave 
form  to  the  program.  The  many-sidedness  of  the  entire 
movement  and  the  indiscriminate  rioting  that  occurred  in 
the  later  years  tend  also  to  obscure  the  genuine  socialistic 
significance  of  the  agitation.  The  disturbances  can  easily 
be  dismissed  as  if  they  were  wholly  comparable  to  the  spo- 
radic disturbances  that  had  occurred  with  lamentable  per- 
sistence throughout  the  preceding  generation. 

always  ^jptingujsfred  their  movement  from 


_ 

socialism,.  Scarce  any  of  them  were  themselves  originators 
of  socialistic  ideas.  They  felt  a  certain  measure  of  antago- 
nism to  the  communistic  type  of  socialism  that  was  most 
prominent  in  public  discussion.  Nevertheless,  the  early 
leaders  were  all  deeply  imbued  with  socialistic  ideas  and  drew 
the  inspiration  for  the  movement  from  them;  they  gave  a 
measure  of  concrete  expression  to  the  somewhat  imperfectly 
conceived  criticism  of  the  Classical  Economists  that  found 
its  ultimate  development  in  the  writings  of  Marx. 

The  London  artisans  whose  efforts  were  mainly  responsi- 
ble for  the  completion  of  the  Chartist  program  cherished  a 


514  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

deep  faith  in  the  need  of  emancipating  their  class  from  all  reli-L 
ideals  o?LonI ance  upon  leaders  drawn  from  the  upper  classes. 
don  leaders  They  did  not  favor  revolution  nor  the  type 
of  class  war  that  is  so  common  in  Continental  socialism. 
There  was  much  of  the  Englishman's  deference  to  constitu- 
tionalism, so  much,  in  fact,  that  Chartism  never  became 
whole-heartedly  revolutionary.  This  inconsistency  between 
abstract  doctrine  and  the  temper  of  the  stronger  leaders 
was  a  source  of  weakness  in  many  respects.  There  was  more 
disposition  to  talk  about  class  struggle  than  willingness  to 
resort  to  force. 

The  Chartist  program  was  the  work  of  a  small  group  which 
had  been  continuously  identified  with  radical  agitation  from 
the  beginnings  of  the  movement  that  preceded  the  Reform 
of  1832.  Francis  Place,  William  Lovett,  Henry  Hethering- 
ton,  John  Cleave,  and  James  Watson  organized  a  num- 
ber of  working-men's  societies,  most  of  which  were  short- 
lived: all  were  designed  to  serve  some  radical  purpose. 
The  Reform  Bill  had  tended  to  consolidate  opinion  among 
the  artisans.  It  was  felt  that  the  bill  was  incomplete  and  eva- 
sense  of  class  sive.  Their  hopes  were  disappointed,  and  there 
struggle  was  more  consciousness  of  the  need  of  agitation. 

The  special  importance  of  the  opinions  of  the  small  group  of 
leaders  mentioned  lay  in  their  belief  that  significant  reforms 
could  be  accomplished  only  under  pressure  of  a  working-class 
movement  led  by  working-men.  There  was  a  sense  that 
their  interests  had  been  betrayed  by  the  middle-class  leaders 
to  whom  they  were  accustomed  to  look. 
I  The  policy  that  thus  emerged  from  the  experience  of  these 
years  was  expressed  in  the  London  Working-Men's  Associa- 
tion that  was  founded  in  the  summer  of  1836.  It  was  de- 
signed "to  draw  into  one  bond  of  unity  the  intelligent  and 
influential  portion  of  the  working  classes  in  town  and  country. 
To  seek  by  every  legal  means  to  place  all  classes  of  society 
in  possession  of  equal  political  and  social  rights."  In  order 
to  accomplish  these  ends  it  was  proposed  "to 
collect  every  kind  of  information  pertaining  to 
the  interests  of  the  working  classes  hi  particular  and  to  society 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       515 

in  general,  especially  statistics  regarding  the  wages  of  la- 
bour, the  habits  and  condition  of  the  labourer,  and  all  those 
causes  that  mainly  contribute  to  the  present  state  of  things : 
to  meet  and  communicate  with  each  other  for  the  purpose 
of  digesting  the  information  acquired."  The  essentially 
educational  intent  of  the  organizers  is  further  indicated  by 
their  demand  for  a  cheap  daily  press  for  the  working-man, 
and  better  education  for  the  rising  generation.  The  mem- 
bership of  the  society  was  carefully  selected  with  a  view  to 
the  exclusion  of  middle-class  members  and  genuine  artisans 
who  did  not  clearly  have  some  serious  purpose.  Despite  these 
ideals  a  few  middle-class  members  were  actually  admitted, 
but  the  organization  was  in  the  main  true  to  the  ideal.  This 
London  society  was  never  large.  The  total  of  admissions  to 
membership  from  June,  1836,  to  1839  was  only  two  hundred 
and  seventy-nine,  exclusive  of  thirty-five  honorary  members. 
It  was  in  fact  as  in  intent  a  study  club.  Much  of  the  work 
was  done  in  committees  which  reported  to  the  general  society. 
Early  in  1837  similar  societies  began  to  be  formed  in  the 
provinces,  and  what  was  at  the  outset  a  wholly  spontaneous 
tendency  came  ultimately  to  be  encouraged  by  "missionaries" 
sent  out  from  London. 

About  the  same  tune  the  movement  took  a  new  turn,  as 
a  result  of  a  public  meeting  held  at  the  Crown  and  Anchor 
Tavern.  The  meeting  was  worked  upon  by  the  Elements  of 
speeches  until  it  was  finally  proposed  that  a  the  charter 
petition  be  sent  to  Parliament  urging  substantial  reforms 
of  a  democratic  character.  A  petition  was  framed  and  sub- 
mitted to  the  meeting.  The  preamble  contains  the  essen- 
tial reasoning  of  the  Chartists  and  the  prayer  contains  the 
famous  six  points.  The  Charter  of  the  later  period  was 
merely  this  petition  worked  over  into  the  form  of  a  bill  ready 
for  presentation  in  Parliament.  The  reforms  demanded 
were:  [the  establishment  of  equal  one-member  districts  for  a 
House  of  Commons  with  a  fixed  number  of  members;  univer- 
^vT^sal  suffrage;  annual  Parliaments;  voting  by  ballot;  abolition 
of  all  property  qualifications  for  membership  in  Parliament; 
the  payment  of  members,  at  £400  per  year] 


516  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

From  this  time  on  the  Association  drifted  rapidly  into 
active  radical  agitation,  concerned  for  the  most  part  with  the 
presentation  of  the  petition  to  Parliament.  The  leaders  be- 
lieved that  sufficient  agitation  could  be  created  in  the  country 
to  secure  the  adoption  of  these  reforms  after  the  manner  of 
the  Reform  Bill  of  1832.  In  order  to  bring  matters  to  a  sharp 
issue,  it  was  felt  desirable  to  be  able  to  present  to  the  country 
the  actual  bill  that  was  to  be  passed,  and  with  this  in  view  a 
committee  of  twelve  was  appointed  to  draft  the  measure. 
Nothing  was  accomplished,  and  after  some  delay  Lovett 
drafted  the  bill  in  consultation  with  Roebuck 

The  Charter  _  _, 

and  Francis  Place.  The  final  draft  was  dis* 
cussed  by  the  committee  and  published  May  8,  1838,  as  the 
"People's  Charter."  The  members  of  Parliament  associated 
with  the  group  were  indifferent,  largely  no  doubt  because 
they  were  fully  conscious  of  the  hopelessness  of  the  project; 
this  was  an  obstacle,  but  it  was  not  keenly  felt  by  the  lead- 
ers, as  they  were  looking  forward  to  three  years  of  agitation. 
An  organization  of  general  scope  was  created  toward  the 
close  of  1838,  and  the  London  Working-Men's  Association 
ceased  to  be  of  real  moment.  There  is  reason  to  believe  that 
the  entire  movement  would  have  collapsed  if  new  energy 
had  not  been  infused  into  it  from  an  unexpected  quarter. 
The  Poor-Law  of  1834  had  evoked  the  mp^tjvioiejit^rotests 
"Northern  agil  "?roin  all  pftrts  6f  the  ^ 


tators  m  1836,  directed  in  part  against  the  administra- 

tion of  the  law  and  in  part  against  the  law  itself.  The  leaders 
of  this  movement  were  violent  and  unscrupulous  agitators, 
ready  to  adopt  any  doctrine  or  catchword  that  would  fur- 
ther inflame  their  audiences.  The  agricultural  and  manufac- 
turing population  of  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire  had  already 
been  worked  up  to  a  dangerous  pitch  of  excitement  when  the 
Poor-Law  agitators  adopted  Chartism.  The  enfranchise- 
ment proposed  by  the  Charter  appealed  to  them  originally 
as  a  means  of  securing  the  repeal  of  the  hated  Poor-Law; 
later  the  Poor-Law  was  lost  sight  of  in  the  larger  issue,  but 
it  seems  likely  that  even  the  more  violent  agitators  would 
have  failed  to  arouse  the  working  classes  on  the  more  abstract 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       517 

issues  of  the  Charter  if  their  antagonism  had  not  already 
been  carried  far  in  the  opposition  of  the  Poor-Law. 

The  final  organization  of  the  movement  was  the  work  of  a 
group  of  Birmingham  radicals.  From  this  source  came  the 
idea  of  the  monster  petition  and  the  organization  of  a  con- 
vention of  working-men's  delegates  that  was  The  «  People's^ 
called  sometimes  the  "People's  Parliament."  *******&" 
The  Birmingham  group,  however,  were  never  able  to  secure 
undisputed  leadership.  These  later  years  of  the  movement 
were  peculiarly  complex  because  there  was  never  any  certain 
leadership.  The  more  important  members  of  the  London 
group  remained  in  touch  with  the  organization  and  exerted 
some  influence,  though  they  were  unable  to  force  their  view 
of  a  purely  constitutional  movement  upon  the  organization 
as  a  whole.  The  agitators  from  Lancashire  and  Yorkshire 
were  likewise  unable  to  steal  the  organization  entirely  and 
convert  it  into  a  frankly  revolutionary  agitation.  The 
Birmingham  radicals  experienced  similar  difficulties  hi  their 
attempt  to  dominate. 

The  party  of  violence,  however,  was  able  to  exert  enough 
influence  to  distract  the  endeavors  of  the  constitutional  group 
and  carried  their  incitement  to  violence  far  Threats  of 
enough  to  terrorize  the  authorities  and  many  ™1*™* 
members  of  the  upper  classes.  It  may  be  that  there  was 
real  danger,  but  the  small  hold  of  Chartism  outside  very  re- 
stricted areas  makes  it  unlikely  that  the  movement  would 
have  become  anything  more  than  a  local  outbreak  scarcely 
more  organized  than  a  casual  riot.  There  was  drilling  among 
some  of  the  Chartists,  but  the  attempts  at  organized  vio- 
lence actually  made  would  seem  to  indicate  that  the  working- 
men  were  not  capable  of  making  a  revolution.  The  Govern- 
ment of  the  day  showed  much  discretion  hi  dealing  with  the 
threats  of  violence,  hi  their  general  policy,  and  in  the  choice 
of  military  officers  in  the  disaffected  areas.  Ugly  possibilities 
were  met  with  a  minimum  of  armed  conflict. 

The  threats  of  violence  throughout  the  first  half  of  1839 
alienated  many  of  the  constitutional  party.  The  convention, 
that  was  the  fundamental  organ  of  the  movement,  was  greatly 


518  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

reduced  by  the  constant  withdrawal  of  members  who  were 
terrified  at  the  prospect  of  a  revolutionary  attempt  with 
its  attendant  personal  danger.  In  July,  1839,  the  petition 

was  presented  and  lost  by  a  vote  of  235  to  46. 

The  constitutional  phase  of  Chartism  was  prac- 
tically dead  already,  so  that  the  failure  of  the  petition  was 
merely  the  formal  closing  of  an  episode  that  had  ceased  to 
be  significant. 

Chartism  was  an  utter  failure  as  an  organized  movement, 
and  its  intellectual  program  had  so  little  contact  with  the 
working-men's  political  thinking  in  the  following  generation 
that  one  might  easily  overlook  the  deeper  aspects  of  the  en- 
tire episode.  There  is  a  kind  of  prophetic  foresight  in  the  be- 
lief of  the  London  artisans  that  working-men's  movements 
must  be  led  by  working-men.  Their  criticism  of  the  rank 
and  file  of  their  class  was  all  too  true,  and  the  turn  that  events 
have  taken  in  the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years  shows  how  much  is 
involved  in  the^Jbwofuiidamental  principles  of  the  London 
Chartists  i  leadershipirTtne  h«.mfjr"n{  m^mhfirfi  flf  the  class,, 
and  concentration  of  effort  on  political  enfranchisement. 

III.  THE  UNIONS  AND  THE  SOCIALISTS 

It  is  particularly  difficult  to  sketch  the  history  of  the  so- 
called  " Labor  Movement"  because  the  organization  of  the 
working  classes  is  not  the  outcome  of  any  single  impulse,  but 
rather  the  result  of  a  group  of  tendencies  that  have  been 
closely  related  in  many  instances  and  in  other  cases  sharply 
opposed  to  each  other.  The  lack  of  any  central  organic  struc- 
ture, like  Parliament  or  a  central  administration,  makes  these 
endeavors  much  more  chaotic  than  the  general  political  life 
of  a  nation.  A  narrative  history  of  these  developments  must, 
therefore,  be  accepted  with  qualifications.  The  labor  writers, 
who  are  responsible  for  the  bulk  of  material  on  the  subject, 
Difficulties  for  are  very  incompletely  conscious  of  this  limita- 
historians  ^ion,  and  in  turning  to  the  past  to  find  materials, 
whether  positive  or  negative,  in  support  of  their  policies  and 
schemes  for  organization  there  are  many  instances  of  a  pat- 
ronizing or  even  contemptuous  attitude  toward  other  phases 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        519 

of  the  movement  that  seem  to  be  scarcely  justified  to  the 
outsider. 

Although  it  is  possible  to  distinguish  elements  of  difference 
in  the  policies  and  methods  of  organization  at  different  periods 
there  are  also  many  elements  common  to  the  entire  period, 
and  many  policies  recur  unchanged  in  general  form,  though 
embodied  in  different  organizations.  The  members  of  the 
Independent  Labor  Party  and  the  newer  types  of  socialists 
are  especially  guilty  of  patronizing  their  antecedents.  One 
might  perhaps  wisely  assume  that  the  multiplicity  of  things 
to  be  accomplished  will,  for  a  long  tune,  make  it  impossible 
to  achieve  these  ends  by  any  single  organization  or  any  single 
Dolicy. 

The  years  that  followed  the  repeal  of  the  Combination 
La\vs  were  dominated  by  attempts  to  secure  large  results  in 
the  immediate  future.     The  characteristic  aim  was  the  for- 
mation of  a  "  trades  union  " ;  or,  to  use  the  current  The  trades 
terminology,  an  amalgamation  of   local  trade  union  J 
unions  hi  a  single  national  society.     The  trades  union  of  this 
early  period,  however,  was  not  designed  to  be  exclusively  a 
craft  organization.    In  most  instances  it  was  intended  to  be 
a  comprehensive  organization  of  all  members  of  the  working 
class.     The  Grand  National 


one  of  the  most  vigorous  of  these  attempts,  included  agricul- 
tural laborers  and  women.  The  local  lodge  usually  included 
members  of  one  trade  only,  but  provision  was  made  for  the 
formation  of  miscellaneous  lodges  in  the  small  places  where 
the  individual  craft  would  not  be  sufficiently  large  to  or- 
ganize independently. 

The  illusive  hopes  of  large  and  immediate  results  seem  to 
be  primarily  a  result  of  Owen's  influence.  He  was  instru- 
mental in  the  organization  of  the  Grand  National  Consoli- 
dated Trades  Union,  and  his  ideas  were  an  im-  _ 

.        .  p  Robert  Owen 

mense  factor  in  much  of  the  labor  agitation  ot 

the  period.     Owen's  confidence  in  the  ease  with  which  the\ 

entire  structure  of  society  might  be  transformed  is  one  of  the 

. —  —     .     -       ..,  L^JMfr— ^ T"^faMMMMMMT"M~H  "M"    a.  inni-||«UMMB^**a*^^B^^™"^B^MPir^'^^^^ 

extraordinary  aspects  of  his  personality^.     Social  organiza- 


520  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

tion  seemed  to  him  to  be  a  mechanical  arrangement  that 
could  be  changed  as  easily  as  the  system  of  discipline  in  a 
factory.  Human  nature  was  no  obstacle,  for  it  was  merely 
the  product  of  environment,  and,  by  appropriate  but  simple 
educational  methods,  all  members  of  society  could  be  made 
estimable  and  capable  citizens.  This  sort  of  millennialistic 
faith  was  easily  transfused  into  his  followers,  and  curiously 
enough  disappointment  in  particular  instances  did  not  at 
once  result  in  general  disillusionment.  This  faithin^speedy 
transformation  of  society  dominated  the  decades  of  the  thir- 
ties and  the  forties. 

Although  there  had  been  attempts  to  organize  national 
associations  of  particular  trades  or  groups  of  trades  prior  to 
The  Grand  1834  the  Grand  National  Consolidated  Trades 
National  Union  was  the  first  entirely  comprehensive 

working-men's  society.  It  was  launched  by  Owen  in  Janu- 
ary and  February,  1834,  at  London.  It  was  to  consist  of  fed- 
erated lodges  which  retained  a  large  measure  of  independ- 
ence, most  especially  hi  the  control  of  their  funds.  The 
lodges  were  urged  to  provide  sick,  funeral,  and  old-age 
benefits  for  members,  and  there  were  projects  for  the  em- 
ployment of  persons  out  on  strike.  The  initiation  rites  and 
oaths  common  at  that  period  were  widely  adopted.  So  far  as 
is  known,  these  rites  possessed  little  specific  importance,  be- 
ing wholly  devoid  of  political  bearings.  The  rites  and  par- 
aphernalia were  substantially  similar  to  the  Masonic  rites; 
quite  innocent,  though  there  was  much  unreasoning  fear 
among  the  upper  classes.  The  case  of  the  Dorsetshire  la- 
borers subsequently  showed  that  the  possibility  of  confus- 
ing these  organizations  with  secret  societies  of  the  type  pro- 
hibited by  law  was  extremely  unfortunate.  In  the  attempt 
to  appreciate  these  events  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  la- 
borer, it  is  easy  to  lose  sight  of  the  grounds  for  apprehen- 
sion on  the  part  of  the  governing  classes,  and,  because  lament- 
able mistakes  were  made,  we  frequently  fail  to  appreciate  the 
regard  that  was  really  shown  for  the  principle  of  individual 
liberty.  The  governments  of  the  day  were  not  really  reac- 
tionary, though  there  were  many  moments  of  panic.  The 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        521 

handling  of  the  Chartists  and  the  general  attitude  toward 
the  unions  reveal  much  discretion  in  the  use  of  the  power 
of  the  State. 

The  low  wages  of  agricultural  labor  had  been  the  occasion 
'or  violence  in  the   southern   counties  in  1829  and  1830: 

,chine-breakings,  rick-burnings,  and  hunger   The  Dorset- 
lots.  These  were  put  down  by  the  use  of  troops.   shke  laborers 
he  laborers  organized,  and  were  alleged  to  be  contributing 
a  network  of  affiliated  local  societies.    There  was  an  in- 
,se  in  wages,  directly  or  indirectly  the  outcome  of  this 
rganization.     In  the  village  of  Tolpuddle,  the  farmers  at 
it  granted  the  increase  that  was  general  throughout  the 
ounty  and  then  in  1833  reduced  wages  again.    The  laborers 
ecided  to  organize.    Delegates  came  down  from  the  Grand 
ational.     The  preparation  of  some  of  the  " properties"  for 
e  initiatory  rites  attracted  the  attention  of  the  farmers, 
lacards  were  issued  warning  the  men  that  any  joining  the 
|union  would  be  sentenced  to  seven  years'  transportation,  and 
Y  Shortly  after  six  of  the   leaders  were  arrested.    The  legal 
^'grounds  of  the  trial  were  certainly  misunderstood  by  the 
-»  ^laboring  class,  but  the  indecent  haste  shown  at  every  stage 

^•'"'1»  07  J  O 

a  ,  of  the  proceedings  creates  a  strong  presumption  against  the 
sincerity  and  discretion  of  the  Government.  The  men  were 
arrested  February  24  (1834) ;  the  trial  was  held  March  18 
and  was  exceedingly  brief ;  before  the  30th  the  men  had  been 
sent  to  the  hulks,  and  by  the  middle  of  the  following  month 
the  ship  had  sailed  for  Botany  Bay. 

The  episode  was  made  the  occasion  of  extended  agitation 
by  the  Grand  National  Consolidated  Trades  Union.  Peti- 
tions were  presented  and  public  meetings  held. 
A  number  of  craft  unions  not  then  included  in 
the  Grand  National  established  temporary  connections  with 
it  in  preparation  for  a  great  procession  in  London  on  the 
occasion  of  presenting  the  petition  to  the  Home  Secretary. 
A  quarter  of  a  million  of  signatures  had  been  obtained,  and 
it  is  estimated  that  thirty  thousand  people  took  part  in  the 
procession.  The  Government  refused  to  commute  the  sen- 
tence. The  case  resulted  in^the  dropping  of  all  oaths  from 


522  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

the  procedure  of  the  unions  and  in  the  abandonment  of  the 
greater  part  of  the  ritualistic  forms  then  in  use. 

The  protest  against  the  conviction  of  the  Dorsetshire  la- 
borers marks  the  highest  point  in  the  influence  of  the  Grand 
National.  Shortly  after,  the  London  Tailors  organized  and 
FaUures  of  precipitated  a  strike  on  the  issue  of  shorter  hours, 
strikes  Twenty  thousand  men  went  out.  The  Grand 

National  endeavored  to  arrange  for  strike  pay.  Levies  were 
made  on  all  the  branches,  but  these  produced  discontent  and 
insufficient  funds.  The  strike  pay  fell  to  four  shillings  a  week, 
and  under  these  conditions  it  proved  to  be  impossible  to  hold 
the  men.  The  employers'  conditions  were  accepted  by  the 
men  individually  as  they  returned  to  work.  Other  strikes  in 
London  and  elsewhere  met  with  no  better  fate,  and  by  July, 
1834,  the  Grand  National  began  to  break  up.  Its  disap- 
Passing  of  the  pearance  was  concealed  in  a  measure  by  its 
Grand  Na-  conversion  in  August,  1834,  into  the  British 
and  Foreign  Consolidated  Association  of  Indus- 
try, Humanity,  and  Knowledge.  This  society  was  designed 
to  establish  a  New  Moral  World  by  the  reconciliation  of  all 
classes.  Needless  to  say  it  was  Owen's  work.  Its  activities 
were  confined  to  the  organization  of  a  few  futile  experi- 
ments in  cooperative  production. 

In  1845  a  National  Association  of  the  United  Trades  for 


Protection  nf  ^.hnr  was  formed.  This  society  was 
other  organi-  National  in  scope,  but  it  had  lost  the  great  ex- 
zations  pectations  of  the  earlier  associations.  It  under- 

took nothing  more  ambitious  than  some  measure  of  assistance 
in  trade-union  struggles  and  the  care  of  labor  interests  in  the 
House  of  Commons.  Provision  was  made  for  a  strike  fund, 
but  no  considerable  amount  of  money  was  collected.  The 
local  societies  were  jealous  of  each  other  and  of  the  central 
committee;  the  employers  adopted  a  policy  that  favored  the 
local  units  against  the  central  body.  The  national  organiza- 
tion thus  found  itself  deprived  of  support  and  of  its  more  sig- 
nificant functions.  It  was  unable  long  to  survive  under  such 
circumstances.  Its  influence  was  gone  by  1848,  and  after 
1851  it  was  wholly  negligible.  The  passing  of  this  association 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       523 


jmarks  the  beginning  nf  a  period  nf  ftigillngirmmonf^  The 
men  gave  up  all  hope  of  the  magnificent  achievements  prom- 
ised by  Owen  and  his  group.  Attempts  at  comprehensive 
national  organization  were  abandoned.  The  specifically 
craft  unions  which  had  long  existed  maintained  themselves, 
but  were  occupied  primarily  with  the  interests  of  then*  own 
craft.  The  revolutionary  spirit  of  the  earlier  period  was  sup- 
planted by  a  notably  constitutionalistic  spirit.  The  unions 
proposed  to  act  wholly  within  the  law,  though  they  were 
anxious  to  have  the  strike  and  its  necessary  incidents  legal- 
ized. The  desire  to  transform  society  thus  gave  way  to 
the  purely  materialistic  'purposes  of  increasing  wages  and 
reducing  the  hours  of  labor. 

The  leadership  in  this  new  phase  of  unionism  fell  to  a  group 
of  menlh  the  engineering  tradesT  The  craft  unions  which 
had  long  existed  in  these  trades  had  been  losing  The  craft 
their  purely  local  significance  and  acquiring  unions 
more  national  importance.  Amalgamations  adroitly  planned 
by  Newton  and  Allan  resulted  in  the  absorption  of  a  number 
of  associations  of  minor  importance  in  their  own  union. 
The  appearance  of  association  among  equals  was  successfully 
preserved,  but  the  new  organization  took  over  the  constitu- 
tion, the  scheme  of  benefits,  the  trade  policy,  and  even  the 
official  staff  of  Newton  and  Allan's  union,  the  Journeymen 
Steam-Engine  and  Machine-Makers  and  Millwrights'  So- 
ciety. The  result  of  these  labors,  the 


of  Engineers^  became  the  model  of  most  of  the  nationaF  or- 
gamzations  among  the  crafts.  Its  constitution  was  copied 
and  its  policies  adopted  without  notable  change. 
This  association  differed  in  many  respects  from 
the  unions  of  the  earlier  period.  It  was  a  national  society 
with  branches,  instead  of  being  a  group  of  local  societies  or 
lodges  provided  with  a  central  committee.  The  power  of 
the  central  organization  of  the  Engineers  was  skillfully  dis- 
sembled, but  it  was  complete.  The  local  societies  were  mere 
branches:  they  elected  officers  and  went  through  the  form  of 
managing  their  funds,  but  hi  reality  everything  was  con- 
trolled from  London.  The  duties  of  officers  were  so  mi- 


524  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

nutely  prescribed  by  the  rules  of  the  central  organization  that 
they  were  deprived  of  any  vital  power  of  initiation.  The  funds 
actually  belonged  to  the  entire  society,  and,  though  held  by 
the  branch,  were  administered  according  to  general  rules  and 
subject  to  a  complex  equalization  which  was  designed  to 
distribute  burdens  and  benefits  impartially  among  all  the 
members. 

A  notable,  feafrye  of  theAmalgamated  Society  of  Engineers 
WM  jnT^yrihin*^  with~thetoic[£ 

Elements  of       union.     At  the  outset  it  had  been  primarily  a" 
success  benefit  society;  the  functions  of  the  trade  union 

were  acquired  in  the  process  of  growth.  Out-of-work  pay 
stood  on  a  par  with  other  claims  for  benefits,  and  it  gained 
from  this  association.  A  single  fund  was  collected  for  all  pur- 
poses, and,  though  it  was  later  alleged  that  the  actuarial 
basis  of  the  scheme  was  unsound,  it  was  a  great  practical  suc- 
cess. The  merits  of  the  scheme  were  most  obvious  from  the 
unionist  point  of  view.  The  inducements  of  the  general  bene- 
fit system  made  it  easy  to  collect  high  weekly  contributions. 
The  society  was  richer  than  any  of  the  early  unions,  and  the 
fund  being  specifically  a  general  fund  the  entire  strength  of 
the  society  could  be  devoted  to  a  local  strike  without  any 
possible  question  of  propriety.  The  inadequacy  of  the  strike 
funds  had  been  the  weakness  of  the  unions  of  the  preceding 
period.  It  had  proved  to  be  impractical  to  raise  an  adequate 
fund  specifically  for  strikes;  difficult  likewise  to  administer 
the  fund  when  the  balance  of  power  lay  with  the  local  organi- 
zations. The  problem  was  solved  for  the  Engineers  by  a 
happy  turn  of  historical  accident.  They  grew  into  the  kind 
of  society  most  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the  time.  The  great 
vogue  of  the  constitution  of  the  society  is  probably  due  to 
this  aspect  of  the  organization. 

The  society  also  introduced  a  new  policy  with  reference  to 
admissions  to  membership.    It  was  not  proposed  to  admit  all 
applicants,  but  only  those  who  had  served  a  regu- 
lar apprenticeship.    The  knowledge  of  the  craft 
was  treated  as  a  vested  interest  which  it  was  the  duty  of  the 
union  to  protect.    The  union  thus  became  committed  to  the 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       525 

modern  policy  of  antagonism  toward  the  " illegal"  worker,  or, 
as  we  would  say,  the  scab.  Its  purpose  became  not  merely 
the  advancement  of  wages  and  shortening  of  hours,  but  like- 
wise the  closed  shop. 

In  some  of  the  early  strikes  the  Amalgamated  Society 
of  Engineers  was  not  successful,  but  the  strength  of  their 
organization  was  clearly  revealed  by  the  London  Builders 
strike  late  in  1858.  The  strike,  or  rather  lock-out,  was  pre- 
cipitated by  a  demand  from  the  Joint  Committee  of  the 
Carpenters,  Masons,  and  Bricklayers  for  a  nine-hour  day. 
The  request  was  followed  by  the  dismissal  of  the  man 
who  presented  the  memorial.  The  men  employed  by  that 
firm  immediately  struck,  and  the  other  employ-  A  test  of 
ers  with  equal  expedition  closed  their  shops,  t**^ 
Twenty-four  thousand  men  were  thrown  out  of  work.  Con- 
tributions to  a  strike  fund  were  sent  in  by  union  organiza- 
tions in  London  and  in  the  provinces.  The  sensation  of 
these  subscriptions  was  the  grant  by  the  Engineers  of 
£1000  for  three  successive  weeks.  The  employers  were  com- 
pelled to  yield,  though  it  was  not  possible  to  secure  all 
that  the  men  had  hoped.  The  incident  contributed  to  in- 
crease the  influence  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  and  to 
stimulate  the  copying  of  its  constitution. 

While  the  general  tendencies  of  unionism  at  this  period 
were  particularistic,  means  were  found  to  secure  some  coor- 
dination of  effort  among  the  various  societies.  Trade  Coun- 
cils had  been  formed  at  various  emergencies  in  the  past,  and 
during  the  forties  and  fifties  permanent  councils  appeared 
in  some  of  the  provincial  towns;  Glasgow,  Sheffield,  Liver- 
pool, and  Edinburgh.  A  similar  organization  was  established 
in  London  in  1861  by  some  of  the  less  important  unions.  The 
larger  societies  soon  perceived  the  possibilities  of  this  organi- 
zation and  by  1864  had  secured  control.  The  secretaries  of 
the  larger  national  organizations  constituted  the  executive 
committee.  There  was  thus  a  body  of  men  who  possessed  no 
direct  constitutional  authority  to  act  as  representatives  of 
the  general  mass  of  union  members,  though  they  were  in 
fact  representative  of  large  bodies  of  unionists  and  enjoyed 


526  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

all  the  opportunities  for  accomplishing  many  things  of  mo- 
Pariiamentary  ment  to  unionists  in  general.  Parliamentary 
activities  activity  was  not  a  purpose  of  their  organizations, 

but  no  group  of  Englishmen  can  entirely  ignore  Parliament. 
As  there  was  no  other  means  by  which  union  interests  could 
be  brought  before  Parliament  the  Executive  Committee  of 
the  London  Trades  Council  stepped  into  the  breach. 

The  most  important  occasion  for  Parliamentary  action 
was  brought  up  by  the  adverse  decision  in  the  case  of  the 
boiler-makers  in  1867.  Some  of  the  society's  funds  had  been 
appropriated  by  one  of  the  officials.  The  society  sued  to 
recover  its  money,  when,  to  the  astonishment  of  the  trade- 
union  world,  the  court  announced  that  the  union  was  an  il- 
legal society  incapable  of  bringing  suit  in  court.  It  had  been 
known  that  there  were  difficulties  involved  in  the  status  of 
the  unions,  but  it  had  been  presumed  that  the  technical  diffi- 
culty had  been  overcome  by  treating  their  funds  as  the  prop- 
erty of  a  friendly  society.  It  seemed  as  if  the  decision  might  ^ 
well  be  fatal  to  the  unions.  The  group  dominating  the  Trades 
Council,  called  by  Webb  the  "Junta,"  determined  to  summon 
such  aid  as  could  be  securedfrom  sympathetic  members  of  the 
middle  class,  notably  certain  barristers  and  solicitors.  This 
legal  assistance  was  of  "EEe  utmost  moment  in  meeting  the 
The  crisis  in  crisis.  There  had  been  some  extremely  un- 
1867  fortunate  outbreaks  of  violence  at  Sheffield,  and 

as  the  entire  legal  basis  of  unionism  had  been  overthrown 
by  the  decision  of  1867  the  Government  proposed  to  make 
an  inquiry  through  a  Royal  Commission.  The  Junta  with 
the  aid  of  middle-class  sympathizers  organized  a  successful 
defense  before  the  Royal  Commission,  presenting  material 
in  their  testimony  which  did  much  to  change  the  attitude 
of  the  public  toward  the  unions. 

The  minority  led  by  Frederic  Harrison  presented  a  report 

indicating  the  legal  reforms  that  would  be  necessary  to  place 

the  unions  in  a  satisfactory  situation.     The 

Government  at  first  paid  no  heed,  but  astute 

conduct  hi  Parliament  forced  the  matter  on  its  attention, 

and  after  consenting  to  a  formal  recognition  of  the  Unionist 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST       527 

Bill  they  brought  in  a  temporary  bill  late  in  1869.  Perma- 
nent legislation  was  presented  in  1870-71.  The  clauses  con- 
cerning the  legal  status  of  the  unions  represented  the  inge- 
nuity of  Harrison  and  remained  the  law  until  the  Taff  Vale 
case.  Harrison  desired  to  express  in  law  the  situation  that 
had  existed  prior  to  1867,  hi  which  the  unions  enjoyed  the 
legal  protection  of  certain  aspects  of  the  law  of  corporations 
and  societies  without  being  subject  to  any  of  the  responsi- 
bilities. It  was  undoubtedly  a  matter  of  grave  importance 
to  the  unions,  and  Harrison's  solution  was  adroit.  It  involved 
anomalies,  however,  which  must  needs  have  come  to  the  fore 
at  some  tune.  To  the  outsider  it  is  difficult  to  find  any  class 
prejudice  directly  involved  in  the  Taff  Vale  case.  The 
unions  had  enjoyed  a  peculiarly  favorable  situation  for  a  gen- 
eration without  challenge,  but  their  legal  status  contained 
an  essential  weakness:  they  were  hi  fact  corporate  bodies 
with  responsibilities.  The  old  position  was  secured  only  by  a 
tour  de  force  of  legal  ingenuity,  which  was  hardly  capable  of 
bearing  the  test  of  a  judicial  hearing.  But  even  if  the  success 
were  short-lived,  unionism  and  the  Labor  movement  in  gen- 
eral owe  much  to  the  efforts  of  the  group  who  defended  the 
cause  in  what  was  undoubtedly  a  crisis  of  the  first  magni- 
tude. The  skill  shown  in  meeting  the  Parliamentary  diffi- 
culties bears  comparison  with  the  efforts  of  Place  and  his 
friends  at  the  time  of  the  repeal  of  the  Combination  Laws, 
though  one  usually  hears  much  less  of  this  second  crisis.  The 
patronizing  attitude  of  many  recent  Labor  leaders  toward 
this  period  in  the  history  of  unionism  seems  unjustifiable 
and  ungraceful. 

The  predominance  of  the  Amalgamated  Society  of  Engi- 
neers and  its  group  of  sister  societies  did  not  survive  the  gen- 
eration of  the  first  leaders.     The  influence  of  changes  in 
the  Junta  began  to  decline  even  within  the  life-  leadershiP 
tune  of  some  of  its  original  members.    There  were  many  ele- 
ments involved  in  the  change  of  leadership  in  the  Labor  move- 
ment.    To  the  outsider,  it  seems  as  if  the  general  move- 
ment becomes  more  complex,  more  manifold  of  purpose  and 
organization.    There  is  no  longer  any  group  of  leaders  that 


528  INDUSTRIAL  HISTORY  OF  ENGLAND 

can  be  treated  as  adequately  representing  the  aspirations  of 
the  working  class.  Two  aspects  of  the  recent  tendencies 
seem  relatively  new:  there  is  impatience  with  the  constitu- 
tionalist policy  of  the  Junta  and  the  Fabians  and  a  demand 
for  direct  action;  there  is  also  a  reaction  from  the  specifically 
craft  tendency  of  the  preceding  period  and  more  emphasis 
placed  upon  the  organization  of  the  unskilled.  These  two 
tendencies  are  at  times  closely  associated,  as  the  advocates 
of  direct  action  desire  to  organize  the  unskilled  in  order  to  pro- 
mote a  " general  strike"  against  the  existing  framework  of 
society. 

But  it  is  hardly  possible  to  declare  that  these  tendencies 

are  essentially  characteristic  of  the  present  Labor  movement. 

Working-men  have  secured  election  to  the  House 

Representation  . 

of  Commons  with  increasing  frequency:  at 
first,  under  sufferance  of  the  Liberal  Party,  latterly  by  reason 
of  their  own  strength.  The  Labor  group  secured  fifty  mem- 
bers in  1906  and  were  sufficiently  important  under  the  special 
circumstances  to  force  the  Liberals  to  adopt  important 
items  of  the  Labor  program.  The  independence  of  the  Labor 
members  is  somewhat  qualified  hi  many  cases;  there  is  still 
some  disposition  of  the  Liberals  to  use  Labor  members  as  a 
decoy  for  working-men's  votes,  but  a  portion  of  the  group 
is  intellectually  and  politically  independent.  At  present  it  is 
possible  for  one  to  say  that  the  growth  of  working-class  in- 
fluence in  Parliament  is  one  of  the  signs  of  the  times.  The 
Osborne  case,  though  apparently  a  blow  directed  against 
Labor,  has  resulted  hi  provision  for  the  payment  of  members, 
so  that  the  working-man  is  not  obliged  to  rely  upon  his  union 
for  support.  If  provision  is  made  for  the  payment  of  election 
expenses  the  position  of  the  Labor  group  will  be  still  further 
assured.  All  these  tendencies  are  a  natural  outgrowth  of  the 
constitutionalist  policy,  and  it  is  very  difficult  to  estimate  the 
relative  importance  of  the  radical  tendencies  and  the  con- 
servative features  of  the  recent  Labor  movement. 

Recent  years  have  thus  revealed  every  shade  of  policy  in 
the  Labor  movement,  from  the  most  radical  socialism  look- 
ing toward  a  violent  revolution  to  the  most  patient  consti- 


INCOMES,  WAGES,  AND  SOCIAL  UNREST        529 

tutionalism.  The  radicals  are  filled  with  an  intense  enthu- 
siasm and  conviction;  they  are  stirred  by  the  consciousness 
of  thinking  new  thoughts :  and  yet  one  wonders  if  their  aspira- 
tions are  so  widely  different  from  those  of  the  Owenite  period. 
Time  alone  can  decide  the  relative  merits  of  the  policies  of 
these  rival  groups  of  leaders,  and  until  then  an  adequate  his- 
tory of  these  years  can  hardly  be  written.  At  present  we  are 
confronted  with  an  unrivaled  activity  in  propaganda. 

The  more  radical  propaganda  is  based  on  the  discontent 
created  by  the  rise  in  prices.  The  working-men  are  inclined 
to  believe  that  these  changes  have  been  deliber-  Elements  of 
ately  made  by  the  capitalists  in  order  to  recover  current  dis- 
in  profits  the  burdens  imposed  in  the  new  taxa- 
tion. They  feel  that  they  have  been  duped  by  the  insurance 
legislation:  given  a  present  with  a  string  tied  to  it.  The  an- 
tagonism founded  on  these  beliefs  was  the  basis  for  the  great 
strikes  that  have  threatened  the  security  of  the  community 
during  the  past  ten  years.  The  leaders  are  quite  right  in  main- 
taining that  these  demonstrations  should  not  be  regarded  as 
isolated  events.  They  represent  a  deliberate  attack  on  the 
existing  organization  of  society,  fostered  by  the  belief  that 
the  means  exist  for  the  payment  of  wages  sufficient  to  assure 
a  decent  living  to  all  manual  workers.  This  temper  seems  to 
have  maintained  itself  throughout  the  War,  and,  if  it  survives, 
England  will  be  uncomfortably  near  a  social  revolution. 

The  socialists  depend  in  part  upon  the  appeal  to  current 
hardships,  but  their  doctrines  are  of  course  of  more  general 
appeal.  They  hope  to  capture  the  entire  union-  The  socialists' 
ist  organization,  because  they  alone  have  a  con-  asp"*410118 
sistent  general  policy.  They  can  appeal  to  the  working-man 
during  prosperity,  as  well  as  in  hard  tunes,  and  it  is  possible 
that  they  will  become  the  leaders  of  the  working  class  as  a 
whole.  The  great  body  of  unionists,  however,  are  eminently 
conservative  in  temper,  and  socialistic  propaganda  has  not  as 
yet  made  a  deep  impression  upon  them.  The  middle-class 
socialism  of  the  Fabians  has  failed  to  develop  any  real 
strength  among  working-men,  and  it  is  not  yet  clear  that  the 
more  revolutionary  socialists  will  succeed. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 

FOR  CRITICAL  STUDY  AND  FOR 
CLASS  READING 

THESE  references  have  been  restricted  to  the  most  important  books  as 
extended  bibliographies  are  easily  accessible.  It  has  seemed  best  to  re- 
strict the  lists  to  the  literature  that  is  indispensable  to  critical  study.  In 
most  instances  the  references  given  were  used  in  preparation  of  the  various 
chapters,  but  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  include  all  books  and  docu- 
ments that  have  been  used. 

It  is  hoped  that  the  titles  classified  as  collateral  reading  will  assist  in  the 
preparation  of  reading  assignments  for  classes  of  undergraduates.  Care 
has  been  taken  to  avoid  any  assignments  that  are  not  well  within  the  scope 
of  the  average  class. 

Bibliographies. 
Gross,  Charles.     The  Sources  and  Literature  of  English  History.    From 

the  earliest  Times  to  aboufl485.    London,  1915. 
Hall,  Hubert.    A  Select  Bibliography  for  the  Study,  Sources,  and  Liter- 

ature  of  English  Mediceval  Economic  History.    London,  1915. 
Woodbury,  C.  J.  H.    A  Bibliography  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture.    Wal- 
tham,  1909. 

An  unusually  careful  special  bibliography. 

General  Works  of  a  Critical  Character. 

Ashley,  W.  J.  An  Introduction  to  English  Economic  History  and  Theory. 
The  Middle  Ages.  London,  1894.  2  vols. 

A  discriminating  study  of  select  topics  that  has  long  occupied  an  important 
place. 

Cunningham,  W.  The  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  Commerce. 
Vol.  i,  The  Early  and  Middle  Ages.  Vol.  n,  Modern  Times.  5th 
Edition.  Cambridge,  1910-12. 

The  most  considerable  study  of  the  general  economic  history  of  England. 
A  monument  of  patient  research  and  of  discriminating  judgment  based  upon 
methods  of  presentation  that  minimize  the  larger  sociological  problems  of 
economic  history.  Likely  to  be  less  useful  to  a  student  than  works  whose 
arrangement  is  topical,  though  invaluable  for  reference. 

Lipson,  E.  Introduction  to  the  Economic  History  of  England.  Vol.  I, 
The  Middle  Ages.  London,  1915. 

A  comprehensive  survey  of  the  important  topics.  Represents  careful  study 
of  the  materials  recently  made  available  by  the  publication  of  records  and 
local  studies. 

Rogers,  J.  E.  T.    Six  Centuries  of  Work  and  Wages.    New  York,  1884. 
The  most  considerable  work  of  a  writer  who  brought  to  the  subject  concep- 
tions of  method  which  were  not  adopted  by  other  English  scholars.    There  are 
many  suggestions,  however,  in  his  general  points  of  view,  and  on  many  matters 
pertaining  especially  to  agriculture  his  work  is  of  substantial  value. 


ii  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Rogers,  J.  E.  T.     The  Industrial  and  Commercial  History  of  England. 
New  York,  1892. 
A  series  of  university  lectures. 

The  Economic  Interpretation  of  History.    London,  1888. 

Briefer  General  Works  and  Texts. 

Ashley,  W.  J.    The  Economic  Organization  of  England.    London,  1914. 
Bry,  G.     Histoire  industrielle  et  economique  de  I'Angleterre,  depuis  les 

origines  jusqu'a  nos  jours.    Paris,  1900. 
Cheyney,  E.  P.    An  Introduction  to  the  Industrial  and  Social  History  of 

England.    New  York,  1901. 
Cunningham,  W.,  and  McArthur,  Ellen  A.    Outlines  of  English  Indus- 

tnal  History.    New  York,  1895. 
Gibbins,  H.  de  B.    Industry  in  England:  Historical  Outlines.    London, 

1896. 
Meredith,  H.  0.    Outlines  of  the  Economic  History  of  England.    London, 

1908. 
Price,  L.  L.  A  Short  History  of  English  Commerce  and  Industry.   London, 

1900. 
Warner,  G.  T.     Landmarks  in  English  Industrial  History.     London, 

1899. 


CHAPTER  I 

Critical  Discussions. 

Biicher,  K.  Die  Entwickelung  der  Volksmrtschaft.  3d  edition,  consider- 
ably enlarged.  1900.  Translation  by  Wickett,  from  the  third  edition, 
Industrial  Evolution. 

The  changes  that  occur  in  the  various  editions  consist  in  the  addition  of 
new  material.  The  doctrine  of  the  book  has  not  been  revised  despite  the  criti- 
cisms of  historians,  but  there  is  a  brief  defense  in  the  preface  of  the  last  edition. 

Marx,  K.  Das  Kapital.  1st  edition,  1867.  4th  edition.  Hamburg) 
1890-94.  Translation.  Capital,  a  Critical  Analysis.  London,  1887. 

There  is  no  deliberate  attempt  to  suggest  a  scheme  of  industrial  stages,  but 
much  material  is  important  in  connection  with  the  socialistic  interpretation  of 
the  transition  to  the  factory  system.  Especially  chapters  xm,  xiv,  and  xv. 
(English  edition.) 

Meyer,  Edouard.   Kkine  Schriften  zur  Geschichtstheorie. .  .  .  Halle,  1910. 
A  collection  of  essays  written  at  various  times,  several  of  them  devoted  to 
criticism  of  Biicher's  generalizations. 

Rodbertus,  J.  K.  Zur  Geschichte  der  Romischen  Tributsteuern  seit 
Augustus.  Jahrbuch  fur  National  Oekonomik  und  Statistik.  1865, 
p.  339. 

Characterizes  the  industrial  organization  of  the  ancient  world  as  "house- 
hold industry"  and  thus  furnishes  the  essential  step  towards  the  generalizations 
popularized  by  Biicher. 

Salvioli,  G.    Le  Capitalisme  dans  le  Monde  Antique.    Paris,  1906. 
Criticism  of  Bttcher  with  constructive  interpretation. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES  "  iii 

Sombart,  W.    Der  Moderne  Kapitalismus.    Leipzig,  1902.    2  vols. 

The  most  considerable  socialistic  interpretation  of  industrial  history.  The 
simpler  aspects  of  the  scheme  suggested  are  similar  to  Biicher's  scheme,  but  in 
its  entirety  the  generalization  is  much  more  elaborate  and  complex. 

Usher,  A.  P.    Generalizations  in  Economic  History.    American  Journal 
of  Sociology,    Vol.  xxi,  pp.  474-91. 

Weber,  M.  "Agrargeschichte,"  in  Conrad's  Handworterbuch  der  Staats- 
urissenschaften. 

An  interpretative  essay  of  substantial  length,  broader  in  scope  than  its  title 
would  suggest.  There  is  much  criticism  of  Biicher,  and  an  attempt  at  con- 
structive interpretation  of  the  life  of  the  ancient  world. 

Collateral  Reading. 

Biicher,  op.  cit.    Chapters  in  and  rv. 

Gaskell,  P.     The  Manufacturing  Population  of  England.    1833.     In- 
troduction.    (Ibid.,  Artizans  and  Machinery,  1836.    Chapter  I.) 


CHAPTER  II 

Critical  Discussions. 
Breasted,  J.  H.    Ancient  Records  of  Egypt.    Vol.  n.    Sections  246-95, 

663-759. 
Erman,  A.    JEgypten  und  JEgyptisches  Leben  im  Alterthum.    1885-87. 

Translation.    Life  in  Ancient  Egypt.    2  vols.,  London,  1894. 

Still  useful,  though  seriously  out  of  date,  because  it  remains  the  only  com- 
prehensive description  of  social  life  in  Egypt. 

Francotte,  H.  U Industrie  dans  la  Grece  Ancienne.   Bruxelles,  1900-01. 
The  most  extensive  of  several  good  studies  of  Grecian  industry. 

Harper,  R.  F.  The  Code  of  Hammurabi.  King  of  Babylon  about  2250 
B.C.  Chicago,  1904. 

King,  L.  W.  Letters  and  Inscriptions  of  Hammurabi.  Vol.  in.  Eng- 
lish Translations.  London,  1900. 

Lau,  R.  J.  Old  Babylonian  Temple  Records.  New  York,  1906.  Co- 
lumbia University  Oriental  Series.  Vol.  in. 

Meyer,  Edouard.  Geschichte  des  Alterthums.  Vol.  I,  Parts  1  and  2,  2d 
edition,  Stuttgart,  1907-09.  Vol.  i,  Part  1, 3d  edition,  Stuttgart,  1910. 

Newberry,  P.  E.    The  Life  of  Rekhamara.    London,  1900. 
A  new  edition  of  this  important  relief. 

Nicole,  J.  Le  Livre  du  Prefet,  ou  VEdit  de  I'Empereur  Leon  le  Sage  sur  les 

Corporations  de  Constantinople.    Geneve,  1904. 
Virey,  Ph.    Le  Tombeau  de  Rekhamara.   Prffet  de  Thebes  sous  la  XVII Ie 

Dynastie.     Min.  de  1'ins.    Pub.  Me"moires  de  la  Mission  Arche"- 

ologique  Franc,  aise  au  Caire.    Vol.  v.    Fasc.  1.    Paris,  1889. 
Waltzing,  J.  P.    Etude  Historique  sur  les  Corporations  Professionelles 

chez  les  Romains.    Louvain,  1895-1900.    4  vols. 
Wilcken,  U.    Grieschiche  Ostraka.    Leipzig,  1899. 

An  account  of  the  Egyptian  institutions  of  the  later  period  based  upon  ma- 
terials furnished  by  Greek  potsherds. 


iv  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Collateral  Reading. 

There  is  little  reading  upon  the  specifically  economic  problems  of 
these  early  cultures  that  is  entirely  suitable  for  a  general  class.  Por- 
tions of  Erman  might  be  used,  and  Maspero,  G.,  The  Struggle  of  the 
Nations,  contains  an  excellent  chapter  on  Thebes  at  the  height  of 
its  power.  The  most  readable 'account  of  the  Mesopotamian  cul- 
tures is  furnished  by  Johns,  C.  H.  W.  Babylonian  and  Assyrian  Laws, 
Contracts  and  Letters.  New  York,  1904. 


CHAPTER  III 

Critical  Discussions. 

Depping,  G.  B.     Reglements  sur  les  Arts  et  Metiers  de  Paris.    Paris, 
1837.    Collection  des  Documents  Ine"dits. 
The  earlier  of  the  editions  of  the  Book  of  the  Crafts. 

Eberstadt,  R.    Magisterium  und  Fraternitas.    Leipzig,  1897. 

A  statement  of  the  extreme  feudal  theory  of  the  origin  of  the  craft  gilds. 

Der  Ursprung  des  Zunftwesens  und  die  aleteren  Handwerkerver- 

banden  des  Mittelalters.    Leipzig,  1915. 
A  development  of  the  work  above  mentioned. 

Fagniez,  G.    Etudes  sur  I' Industrie  au  XIIIs  et  XIV6  siecles.    Paris, 
1877. 
The  most  detailed  study  of  early  craft  organization  at  Paris. 

Flach,  J.    Les  Origines  de  I'Andenne  France.    Vol.  n,  Paris,  1893. 

Primarily  constitutional,  though  the  treatment  of  the  origin  of  the  towns 
contains  much  material  that  is  of  importance  to  economic  history. 

GeVaud,  H.  Pans  sous  Philippe  le  Bel.  Paris,  1837.  Collection  des 
Documents  Ine"dits. 

Contains  the  tax-roll  of  1292  and  the  Dictionary  of  Jean  de  Garlande. 

Lespinasse,  R.  de,  et  Bonnardot,  F.  Les  Metiers  et  Corporations  de 
Paris:  XIHe  siecle.  Paris,  1879.  (Histoire  Monumentale  de  la  Ville 
de  Paris.) 

A  later  edition  of  the  Book  of  the  Crafts. 

Levasseur,  E.    Histoire  des  Classes  Ouvrieres  et  de  I'Industrie  en  France 

v.    avant  1789.    Paris,  1900-01.  2  vols. 

A  work  that  bears  comparison  with  Cunningham's  work  on  England  in  its 
discriminating  scholarship  and  comprehensive  knowledge,  and  relatively  more 
readable  because  the  method  of  presentation  is  less  severely  annalistic. 

Martin-Saint-Le'on,  E.  Histoire  des  Corporations  des  Arts  et  Metiers. 
Paris,  1909. 

A  standard  work  now  available  in  a  new  edition. 

Collateral  Reading. 

There  is  no  reading  available  in  English  upon  these  problems  of 
French  history.  Conditions  of  essentially  similar  character  are  pre- 
sented by  the  history  of  industry  in  the  Low  Countries  now  adequately 
told  by  Pirenne,  H.  Belgian  Democracy,  its  early  history.  (Manches- 


SELECTED  REFERENCES  v 

ter,  1915.)  Chapters  i,  iv,  and  rx  are  especially  recommended.  This 
excellent  book  came  into  my  hands  after  the  present  chapter  had 
been  written,  and  no  attempt  has  been  made  to  add  specific  references 
to  the  important  confirmations  of  fact  and  method.  It  is  particu- 
larly interesting  to  note  the  criticisms  of  Biicher  at  pp.  15  and  92-93. 
A  discussion  of  craft  specialization  from  a  different  point  of  view 
from  that  adopted  in  the  text  may  be  found  in  Biicher,  op.  cit., 
chapter  vni. 

CHAPTER  IV 

Critical  Discussions. 

The  controversy  over  the  population  of  England  prior  to  the  Black 
Death  appears  in  the  following  articles  in  the  Fortnightly  Review. 
Seebohm,  F.  "The  Black  Death  and  its  Place  in  History."  (Vol. 
n,  pp.  149,  and  268.)  Rogers,  J.  E.  T.  "England  before  and  after  the 
Black  Death."  (Vol.  in,  191.)  Seebohm  F.  "The  Population  of 
England  before  the  Black  Death."  (Vol.  rv,  89.)  The  views  advanced 
by  Seebohm  have  been  espoused  by  several  writers  without  material 
change  in  the  arguments  used  or  the  figures  suggested.  Rogers  subse- 
quently used  his  materials  in  the  lecture  that  appears  in  the  volume 
The  Industrial  and  Commercial  History  of  England.  His  views  have  not 
been  favorably  received,  and  it  is  therefore  with  some  diffidence  that 
similar  estimates  of  population  have  been  advanced.  The  conclusions 
to  be  drawn  from  the  Subsidy  Rolls,  however,  seem  to  confirm  this 
hitherto  unpopular  view.  Detailed  references  to  the  Subsidy  Rolls 
may  be  found  in  the  bibliographies  of  Gross  and  Hall.  The  relation  of 
these  tax-lists  to  the  probable  population  is  best  indicated  by  the  study : 
Powell,  E.  A  Suffolk  Hundred  in  the  Year  1283.  Cambridge,  1910. 

Creighton,  C.     "The  Population  of  Old  London."    Blackwood's  Edin- 
burgh Magazine.    Vol.  149,  p.  477. 
A  unique  and  important  study. 

Estimated  Population  of  England  and  Wales,  1570-1750.  Mr.  Rick- 
man.  Census  of  Population  of  Great  Britain.  1841.  Introductory 
remarks  to  the  three  volumes,  p.  43. 

These  estimates  differ  slightly  from  some  others  but  they  constitute  the 
most  considerable  body  of  material  available,  and  as  they  are  based  on  the  same 
methods  throughout  it  was  deemed  wise  to  use  them  to  the  exclusion  of  other 
material  in  the  preparation  of  the  density  maps  published. 

Hull,  C.  H.  The  Writings  of  Sir  William  Petty.  Cambridge,  1899. 
2  vols. 

The  introduction  (pp.  Ixxxiv  ff.)  contains  the  most  detailed  study  of  the 
growth  of  the  registration  area  in  and  about  London. 

Inman,  A.  H.    Domesday  and  Feudal  Statistics.    London,  1900. 
Levasseur,  E.    La  Population  Fran^aise.    Paris,  1889-92.    3  vols. 
The  most  considerable  of  several  studies  of  the  population  of  France. 

Collateral  Reading. 

The  material  on  this  subject  does  not  seem  suitable  to  the  needs  of 
a  class. 


vi  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

CHAPTER  V 

Critical  Discussions. 

Gras,  N.  S.  B.     The  Evolution  of  the  English  Corn  Market.     Harvard 
University  Press,  Cambridge,  1915. 

An  important  contribution  to  the  early  history  of  marketing  which  gives  an 
essentially  new  account  of  the  decay  of  the  manor. 

Gray,  H.  L.    English  Field  Systems.   Harvard  University  Press,  Cam- 
bridge, 1915. 

A  painstaking  and  significant  study  of  the  agricultural  arrangements  of  the 
early  and  later  medieval  period,  supplanting  in  many  ways  the  older  literature 
on  the  subject. 

Hone,  N.  J.    The  Manor  and  Manorial  Records.    London,  1906. 

A  description  of  the  general  features  of  manorial  life  designed  to  be  free  from 
technicalities. 

Kaufmann,  A.    Beitrdge  zur  Kenntniss  der  Feldgemeinschaft  in  Siberien. 
Archiv  fiir  Sociale  Gesetzgebung  und  Statistik.    Vol.  ix,  p.  108. 

The  general  conclusions  of  researches  carried  on  for  many  years  in  connection 
with  the  publication  of  materials  collected  in  Siberia.  In  many  respects  a 
pioneer  work. 

Lewinski,  Jan  de  St.     The  Origin  of  Property  and  the  Formation  of  the 
Village  Community.    London,  1913. 

A  study  based  on  the  Siberian  materials,  presenting  no  new  facts  though  the 
development  recognized  by  Kaufmann  and  Simkhovitch  is  made  part  of  a 
general  theory  of  the  origin  of  property.  It  would  seem  that  this  general  thesis 
must  be  regarded  as  a  hypothesis,  suggested  by  the  Siberian  evidence,  but 
needing  further  confirmation  before  acceptance  as  a  general  principle  of  his- 
torical sociology. 

Maitland,  F.  W.    Domesday  Book  and  Beyond.    Cambridge,  1897. 
A  critical  study  of  fundamental  importance. 

Meitzen,  A.    Siedelung  und  Agrarwesen  der  West-  und  Ostgermanen. 
Berlin,  1895. 

A  voluminous  and  careful  study  based  upon  the  theory  that  the  mode  of 
settlement  is  essentially  associated  with  "race."  The  work  is  the  culmina- 
tion of  much  German  writing,  and  it  seemed  that  its  conclusions  were  irre- 
sistible until  new  light  was  thrown  upon  the  subject  by  the  Siberian  materials. 

Seebohm,  Frederick.     The  English  Village  Community.    London,  1883. 

Long  a  standard  work,  now  supplanted  in  many  details  by  recent  works, 
especially  Gray's. 

Simkhovitch,  V.  G.    Die  Feldgemeinschaft  in  Russland.    Jena,  1898. 

A  comprehensive  study  of  the  Russian  village  community,  both  in  Russia 
and  in  Siberia.  Much  attention  is  devoted  to  the  criticism  of  the  idealization 
of  the  village  community  by  socialistic  writers.  The  institution  is  regarded  as 
an  essentially  primitive  arrangement  that  has  already  passed  the  term  of  its 
greatest  usefulness  in  Russia. 

"Hay   and  History."     Political   Science  Quarterly,  1913,  vol. 

xxvin,  pp.  385-403. 

An  application  of  some  of  the  principles  derived  from  the  Siberian  material 
to  conditions  in  medieval  Europe. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES  vii 

Vinogradoff ,  P.     English  Society  in  the  Eleventh  Century.  Oxford,  1908. 
A  scholarly  and  vivid  description  of  England  at  the  time  of  the  Domesday 
Survey. 

The  Growth  of  the  Manor.    Oxford,  1911. 

One  of  the  most  important  and  extended  studies  of  this  problem. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Lipson,  op.  cit.,  chapters  n  and  in. 
Hone,  N.  J.,  op.  cit. 
Lewinsky,  op.  cit. 
Simkhovitch,  "Hay  and  History." 


CHAPTER  VI 

Critical  Discussions. 

Ballard,  A.    The  Domesday  Boroughs,  1904. 
Day,  C.    History  of  Commerce.    New  York,  1914. 
Gross,  Charles.    Select  Cases  on  the  Law  Merchant.    Selden  Society. 

London,  1908.    Introduction. 
Hall,  H.    A  History  of  the  Customs  Revenue  in  England.    London,  1885. 

2  vols. 
Huvelin,  P.    Etude  Historique  sur  le  Droit  des  MarcMs  et  des  Foires. 

Paris,  1897. 
Jenckes,  A.  L.     The  Origin,  the  Organization,  and  the  Location  of  the 

Staples  of  England.    Philadelphia,  1908. 
Kitchin,  G.  W.    A  Charter  of  Edward  III  confirming  and  enlarging  the 

Privileges  of  St.  Giles'  Fair,  Winchester.    London,  1886. 
Lingelbach,  W.  E.    The  Merchant  Adventurers  of  England.    Their  Laws 

and  Ordinances.    Philadelphia,  1902. 

Maitland,  F.  W.    Township  and  Borough.    Cambridge,  1898. 
Mitchell,  W.    Early  History  of  the  Law  Merchant.    Cambridge,  1904. 
Schmoller,  G.     The  Mercantile  System.    New  York,  1896.    A  chapter 

from  the  study,  Studien  uber  die  Wirtschaftliche  Politik  Friedrichs  des 

Grossen,  1884.  Reprinted  separately  in  Umrisse  und  Untersuchungen. 

The  specific  purpose  of  the  essay  gave  prominence  to  Prussian  illustrative 
material  which  is  somewhat  unfortunate ;  it  was  intended  to  be  a  statement  of  a 
theory  of  the  development  of  the  modern  state,  but  the  scheme  suggested  is  more 
closely  related  to  the  history  of  Prussia  than  to  the  history  of  other  portions 
of  Europe.  This  essay  introduced  the  idea  of  the  "town  economy"  into 
economic  history.  The  publication  of  essentially  the  same  ideas  by  Biicher 
in  1893  was  the  occasion  of  no  little  feeling. 

Schultz,  F.    Die  Hanse  und  England  von  Edouard  HI  bis  auf  Heinrich 

VHI'sZeit.    Berlin,  1911. 
Stein,  W.    Die  Hanse  und  England.    Leipzig,  1905. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Lipson,  op.  cit.,  chapters  v,  vi,  vn. 
Mitchell,  op.  cit. 


viii  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

CHAPTER  VII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Brentano,  L.  On  the  History  and  Development  of  Gilds  and  the  Origin  of 
Trade  Unions.  London,  1870. 

Despite  the  generalizations  criticized  in  the  [text,  Brentano's  work  is  still 
useful. 

Gross,  Charles.     The  Gild  Merchant.    Oxford,  1890.    2  vols. 

A  fundamental  study,  directed  against  certain  theories  of  continental  writers. 
Primarily  concerned  with  constitutional  problems.  The  discussion  of  the  eco- 
nomic policies  of  the  Gild  Merchant  seems  to  be  rather  more  literal  than  the 
notes  and  documents  of  the  second  volume  would  warrant. 

Herbert,  W.  The  History  of  the  Twelve  Great  Livery  Companies  of  Lon- 
don. London,  1834.  2  vols. 

Hibbert,  F.  A.  Influence  and  Development  of  English  Gilds.  Cambridge, 
1891. 

Kramer,  S.    English  Craft  Gilds  and  the  Government.    New  York,  1905. 

Unwin,  G.     The  Guilds  and  Companies  of  London.    London,  1908. 

The  best  comprehensive  study  of  the  gilds  of  London,  based  on  much  docu- 
mentary material  that  has  recently  become  available  in  the  archives  and  in 
print. 

Industrial  Organization  in  the  Sixteenth  and  Seventeenth  Centuries. 

Oxford,  1904. 

An  important  study  in  the  history  of  the  later  phases  of  the  craft  organiza- 
tions. The  conclusions  seem  to  be  obscured  by  the  failure  to  distinguish  suf- 
ficiently between  the  constitutional  and  industrial  aspects  of  craft  activities. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Lipson,  op.  cit.,  chapter  vm. 
Brentano,  op.  cit. 
Unwin,  Guilds  and  Companies  of  London. 

CHAPTER  VIII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Ashley,  W.  J.  Early  History  of  the  English  Woollen  Industry.  Pub- 
lications of  the  American  Economic  Association,  vol.  n,  no.  4.  1887. 
(Introduction  to  the  Economic  History  of  England,  n,  chapter  in.) 

Bischoff,  J.  A  Comprehensive  History  of  the  Woollen  and  Worsted  Manu~ 
factures.  London,  1842. 

James,  J.  History  of  the  Worsted  Manufacture  in  England.  London,  1857. 

Lohmann,  F.  Die  Staatliche  Regelung  der  englischen  Wollindustrie  vom 
XVen  bis  zum  XV III™  Jahrhundert.  1900. 

Unwin,  G.    "Woollen  and  Worsted  Industries  of  Suffolk."     Victoria 
County  History  of  Suffolk,  vol.  u,  pp.  254  ff. 
The  most  important  of  many  local  studies. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Lipson,  op.  cit.,  chapter  ix. 
Ashley,  op.  cit. 

Saltzmann,  L.  F.  English  Industries  in  the  Middle  Ages.  London,  1913. 
Chapter  vm. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES  ix 

CHAPTER  IX 

Critical  Discussions. 
Bradley,  H.    English  Enclosures.    New  York,  1918. 

An  important  study  of  the  early  enclosure  movement,  attributing  the 
changes  in  agricultural  methods  to  soil  exhaustion  rather  than  to  the  sup- 
posedly high  price  of  wool.  The  study  seems  to  be  not  inconsistent  with  the 
view  expressed  in  the  text,  but  it  would  perhaps  explain  more  completely  the 
circumstances  leading  to  the  establishment  of  the  Midland  System  of  mixed 
arable  and  pasture. 

The  views  in  the  text  were  based  largely  upon  suggestions  from  Gray's 
studies  of  the  field  systems:  the  field  systems  were  deemed  to  be  capable  of 
more  improvement  of  agricultural  technique  than  Miss  Bradley  assumes.  It 
was  intended,  however,  to  represent  the  transition  as  a  change  towards  a  more 
refined  technique;  so  general  a  formulation  that  it  has  not  seemed  necessary  to 
introduce  any  changes  in  a  text  that  was  complete  before  this  excellent  piece  of 
work  came  into  my  hands. 

Ceilings,  J.    Land  Reform.    Occupying  Ownership,  Peasant  Proprietary, 
and  Rural  Education.    London,  1908. 
A  statement  of  the  problem  by  the  chief  advocate  of  small  holdings. 

Evershed,  H.    Allotments.    National  Review,  vol.  x,  p.  25. 
Description  of  early  experiments. 

Fortescue,  E.     Poor  Men's  Gardens.    The  Nineteenth  Century,  1888, 
vol.  xxni,  p.  394. 

Gay,  E.  F.     Inclosures  in  England  in  the  Sixteenth  Century.     Quar- 
terly Journal  of  Economics,  1903.    Vol.  xvii,  pp.  576-97. 

and  Leadham,  I.  S.     The  Inquisitions  of  Depopulation  in  1517 

and  the  "  Domesday  of  Enclosures."     Transactions  of  the  Royal  His- 
torical Society,  1900,  vol.  xiv,  pp.  231-303. 

A  discussion  of  the  critical  problems  in  the  interpretation  of  the  inquiries  of 
the  early  sixteenth  century,  chiefly  with  reference  to  the  proportion  of  enclo- 
sure devoted  respectively  to  arable  and  pasture. 

Gonner,  E.  C.  K.    Common  Land  and  Enclosure.    London,  1912. 

A  praiseworthy  attempt  to  write  a  comprehensive  history  of  the  enclosure 
movement;  necessarily  uneven  in  quality. 

Hasbach,  W.    A  History  of  the  English  Agricultural  Laborer.    London, 
1908. 
A  careful  and  discriminating  study. 

Jebb,  L.    The  Small  Holdings  of  England.    A  Survey  of  various  existing 
systems.    London,  1907. 

The  Working  of  the  Small  Holdings  Act.    London,  1907. 

Johnson,  A.  H.      The  Disappearance  of  the  Small  Landowner.    1909. 

Shows  by  use  of  the  land-tax  assessments  that  the  yeoman  fanner  disap- 
peared nearly  a  century  earlier  than  was  currently  supposed. 

Leadham,  I.  S.    The  Domesday  of  Enclosures.    1517-18.    Introduc- 
tion.   Royal  Historical  Society.    1897. 
Levy,  H.    Large  and  Small  Holdings. 
Prothero,  R.  E.    English  Farming  Past  and  Present.    London,  1912. 


x  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Slater,  G.    The  English  Peasantry  and  the  Enclosure  of  the  Common 
Fields.    London,  1907. 

A  study  of  the  enclosure  movement,  primarily  in  the  eighteenth  century. 
In  many  ways  the  most  readable  of  the  accounts  now  available. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Conner,  E.  C.  K.,  op.  tit. 
Slater,  G.,  op.  tit. 
Collings,  J.,  op.  tit. 
Jebb,  L.,  both  books. 


CHAPTER  X 

Critical  Discussions. 

Ashley,  W.  J.  Economic  Organization  of  England.  London,  1914.  Chap- 
ter VII. 

A  relatively  conservative  account,  which  embodies  many  of  the  elements  of 
interpretation  criticized  in  the  text. 

Jevons,  W.  S.     The  Coal  Question.    1st  edition,  London,  1865.    2nd 
edition,  London,  1906.    Chapters  rx,  x,  xi. 

The  entire  change  is  interpreted  in  terms  of  the  volume  of  the  production  of 
coal.  It  would  seem  that  this  extreme  emphasis  upon  a  single  source  of  power 
leads  to  exaggeration.  Even  to-day  we  are  in  position  to  foresee  a  develop- 
ment of  other  sources  of  power  which  may  well  invalidate  certain  of  the  con- 
clusions of  this  stimulating  work. 

Mantoux,  P.    La  Revolution  Industrielle  au  XVIIP  siecle.    Paris,  1906. 
The  most  careful  study  of  the  beginnings  of  the  Industrial  Revolution. 
Already  long  out  of  print. 

Wood,  Sir  H.  T.    Industrial  England  in  the  Middle  of  the  Eighteenth 
Century.    London,  1910. 


CHAPTER  XI 

Anon,  (presumed  to  have  been  edited  by  Defoe) .    The  British  Merchant. 
London,  1720.    3  vols. 

A  polemic  inspired  by  the  discussion  of  the  commercial  treaty  with  France 
projected  in  1713. 

Barbon,  Nicholas.    A  Discourse  on  Trade.    1690.    1696. 
Reprinted  by  Hollander,  Economic  Reprints. 

Bruce,  J.    Annals  of  the  Honorable  East  India  Company.    London, 
1810.    3  vols. 

A  collection  of  documents  that  is  important  in  connection  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  trade  in  cottons. 

Child,  Sir  Josia.    A  New  Discourse  on  Trade.    1681. 

D'Avenant,  Charles.    Essay  on  the  East  Indian  Trade.    Political  and 

Commercial  Writings  of  D'Avenant.    London,  1771.    Vol.  i,  p.  83. 
Hewins,  W.  A.  S.    English  Trade  and  Finance,  chiefly  in  the  seventeenth 

century.    London,  1892.    Chapter  v.    Three  Commercial  Treaties. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 


XI 


Hunter,  W.  W.     A  History  of  British  India.    London,  1899-1900. 
2  vols. 
The  most  complete  account  of  the  early  history  of  the  company. 

Mun,  Thomas.  England's  Treasure  by  her  Forraign  Trade.  London, 
1664.  Reprint:  Economic  Classics,  New  York,  1892. 

Smith,  J.  Chronicon  Rusticum-Commerciak,  or  Memoirs  of  Wool. 
London,  1747.  2  vols. 

Wright,  Arnold.    Early  English  Adventurers  in  the  East.    London,  1917. 

Narrative  of  early  travel  in  the  East  leading  up  to  the  East  India  Company 
and  chapters  from  the  early  history  of  the  company. 


Collateral  Reading. 
Hunter,  op.  cit.,  vol.  n,  chapter  vni. 
Hewins,  op.  cit.,  chapter  v. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Baines,  Edward,  Jr.    History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture.    London,  1835. 
Still  the  most  comprehensive  account. 

Chapman,  S.  J.    The  Cotton  Industry  and  Trade.    London,  1905. 
Recent  history  and  description  of  the  present  condition  of  the  industry. 

The  Lancashire  Cotton  Industry.    Manchester,  1904. 

A  careful  history  of  the  rise  of  the  factory  system  in  the  industry  and  of  the 
development  of  organization  among  the  workers. 

Ellison,  Thomas.    The  Cotton  Trade  of  Great  Britain.    London,  1886. 

A  study  of  the  trade  by  a  member  of  a  famous  Liverpool  firm.     The  most 
complete  study  of  the  trade  statistics. 

French,  G.  J.    Life  and  Times  of  Samuel  Crompton.    Manchester,  1860. 

Contains  also  an  appendix  on  the  development  of  spinning  by  rollers,  docu- 
ments connected  with  the  claims  of  Paul  to  the  invention. 

Gaest,  Richard.  History  of  the  Cotton  Manufacture,  with  a  disproval  of 
the  Sir  Richard  Arkwrighfs  claim  to  his  Inventions.  1823. 

An  important  near  contemporary  account,  provided  with  illustrations  of  the 
early  machines  which  are  the  basis  of  most  of  the  modern  cuts. 

Marsden,  R.  Cotton  Spinning,  its  development,  principles,  and  practice. 
London,  1886. 

The  least  technical  of  the  treatises  on  spinning. 

Schultze-Gaevernitz,  G.  von.  Der  Grossbetrieb:  Ein  Wirthschaftlicher 
und  socialer  Fortschritt:  Sine  Studie  auf  dem  Gebiete  der  Baumwollin- 
dustrie.  1892.  Translation:  The  Cotton  Trade  in  England  and  on 
the  Continent.  Manchester,  1895. 

An  excellent  study  in  the  rise  of  the  factory  system  and  certain  aspects  of 
international  competition. 

Taggart,  W.  S.    Cotton  Spinning.    London,  1902.    3  vols. 

A  more  elaborate  treatise  than  that  of  Marsden,  designed  for  technical 
students. 


xii  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Wood,  G.  H.    The  History  of  Wages  in  the  Cotton  Trade  during  the  last 
Hundred  Years.    London,  1910. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Baines,  op.  cit. 
Marsden,  op.  cit. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Beck,  L.  Die  Geschichte  des  Eisens  in  technischer  und  kuturgeschicht- 
licher  Beziehung.  Braunschweig,  1884-1903.  5  vols. 

The  most  important  single  work  on  the  iron  industry,  combining  the  tech- 
nical and  historical  points  of  view  with  unusual  success. 

Bessemer,  Sir  H.    An  Autobiography.    London,  1905. 

A  record  that  conveys  the  personality  of  the  man  as  well  as  the  external 
events  of  his  career  as  an  inventor.    Absorbingly  interesting. 

Grantham,  J.    Iron  Ship-building.    London,  1868. 

Jeans,  W.  T.    The  Creators  of  the  Age  of  Steel.    New  York,  1884. 

Biographical  essays  on  Bessemer,  Siemens,  Whitworth,  Brown,  Thomas, 
and  Snelus. 

Muirhead,  J.  P.    The  Origin  and  Progress  of  the  Mechanical  Inventions  of 
James  Watt.    London,  1854.    3  vols. 
The  most  complete  of  the  biographies  of  Watt. 

Percy,  J.  Metallurgy:  The  Art  of  Extracting  Metals  from  their  Ores,  and 
of  A  dapting  them  to  Various  Purposes  of  Manufacture.  Iron  and  Steel. 
London,  1864. 

A  technical  treatise  that  includes  more  historical  material  than  any  other 
treatise  in  English. 

Scrivenor,  H.    A  Comprehensive  History  of  the  Iron  Trade  throughout  the 
world,  from  the  earliest  records  to  the  present.    London,  1841.    Revised 
and  enlarged,  1854. 
Not  very  useful. 

Smiles,  S.    Industrial  Biography:  Iron  Workers  and  Tool-makers.    Lon- 
don, 1863. 
Important. 

Lives  of  Boulton  and  Watt,  from  the  original  Soho  MSS.  Lon- 
don, 1865. 

Thurston,  R.  H.  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine.  New 
York,  1902. 

An  account  written  by  an  engineer  for  the  general  public. 

Trevithick,  Francis.    Life  of  Richard  Trevithick.    London,  1872.    2  vols. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Bessemer,  op.  cit. 
Jeans,  op.  cit. 
Smiles,  Industrial  Biography. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES         xiii 

CHAPTER  XIV 

Critical  Discussions. 

Cilleuls,  A.  de.  Histoire  et  regime  de  la  grande  Industrie  en  France  aux 
XVIP  et  XVIII*  siecles.  Paris,  1898. 

Dunlop,  Jocelyn,  and  Denman,  R.  D.  English  Apprenticeship  and 
Child  Labour.  New  York,  1912. 

Gaskell,  P.    The  Manufacturing  Population  of  England.    London,  1833. 

Hammond,  J.  L.,  and  Hammond,  Barbara.  The  Town  Laborer.  Lon- 
don, 1917. 

A  sociological  study  that  is  strongly  influenced  by  class  consciousness.  The 
position  of  the  aristocracy  is  brought  out  with  technical  accuracy,  but  one  is 
tempted  to  question  the  justice  of  the  implications  of  the  text.  Is  it  strictly  true 
that  the  aristocracy  consciously  used  its  position  to  exploit  and  oppress  the 
lower  classes?  One  must  remember  that  much  impetus  towards  reform  came 
from  this  aristocratic  class. 

Martin,  G.  La  Grande  Industrie  en  France  sous  la  Regne  de  Louis  XV. 
Paris,  1901. 

The  most  considerable  of  the  studies  of  the  early  tendencies  toward  the  fac- 
tory system  in  France. 

Marx,  K.  Capital.  A  Critical  Analysis  of  Capitalist  Production. 
Translated  from  the  third  German  edition,  Moore,  S.,  and  Aveling,  E. 
London,  1887. 

Parliamentary  Papers. 

Two  Reports  of  the  Committee  on  Petitions  from  the  Handloom  Weavers 
in  the  Linen,  Cotton,  and  Silk  Manufacture.  4  parts.  1834-35. 

Report  of  the  Royal  Commission  and  the  Assistant  Commissioners  on  the 
Condition  of  the  Handloom  Weavers.  7  parts.  1839-41. 

Report  of  the  Committee  on  the  Woollen  Manufacture  of  England,  the  Laws 
relating  to  it,  and  the  Acts  regulating  the  conduct  of  Masters  and  Work- 
men. 1806. 

Rousiers,  P.  de.    The  Labour  Question  in  Great  Britain.    London,  1896. 

A  study  of  conditions  among  the  working  classes  according  to  the  methods 
of  Le  Play:  observations  of  specific  families  and  their  histories. 

Ure,  A.     The  Philosophy  of  Manufactures.    London,  1835. 

Description  of  the  introduction  of  machinery  by  one  who  is  wholly  dominated 
by  the  industrial  and  mechanical  advantages. 


Collateral  Reading. 
Dunlop,  op.  cit. 
Gaskell,  op.  cit. 
Hammond,  op.  cit. 
De  Rousiers,  op.  cit. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Critical  Discussions. 

Clapham,J.H.    "  The  Spitalfields  Acts.    1773-1823."    Economic  Jour- 
nal, vol.  26,  pp.  459-71. 


xiv  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

Howell,  G.     The  Conflicts  of  Capital  and  Labour,  historically  and  eco* 

nomically  considered.    London,  1878. 
Schloesser,  H.  H.,  and  Clark,  W.  S.    The  Legal  Position  of  Trade  Unions. 

London,  1913. 

Wallas,  G.    Life  of  Francis  Place,  1771-1854.    London,  1898. 
Vivid  and  of  capital  importance. 

Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice.  History  of  Trades  Unionism.  London,  1894. 
The  first  chapter  only  is  of  moment  in  connection  with  the  present  discussion 
and  it  is  difficult  to  avoid  feeling  that  this  introductory  chapter  is  considerably 
below  the  standard  of  the  rest  of  the  book.  The  interpretation  of  the  early 
history  of  Unionism  seems  to  be  dominated  by  assumptions  as  to  the  policy 
of  Parliament  that  are  not  borne  out  by  the  facts. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Wallas,  op.  ctt. 

CHAPTER  XVI 

Critical  Discussions. 

Aschrott,  P.  F.    The  English  Poor  Law  System,  Past  and  Present.    Lon- 
don, 1902. 

The  best  brief  account  of  the  existing  administrative  framework.  The  dis- 
cussion is,  however,  somewhat  out  of  date,  as  the  Report  of  1909  has  exerted 
a  notable  influence  upon  opinion  though  it  has  not  resulted  in  much  legislation. 

Bosanquet,  H.    The  Poor  Law  Report  of  1909.    London,  1909. 
Discussion  favorable  to  the  Majority  Report. 

Bowstead,  W.    The  Law  Relating  to  Factories  and  Workshops.    London, 
1902. 

The  text  of  the  Act  of  1901  accompanied  by  introduction  and  legal  com- 
mentary. 

Brend,  W.  A.    Health  and  the  State.    London.  1917. 
Carter,  J.  W.    Factory  and  Workshop  Acts.    Blackburn,  1907.  , 

Dewsnup,  E.    The  Housing  Problem  in  England;  its  statistics,  legislationt 
and  policy.    Manchester,  1907. 
The  best  general  statement. 

Frankel,  L.  K.,  and  Dawson,  M.  M.  Workingmen's  Insurance  in  Europe. 

New  York,  1910. 
Hodder,  E.    Life  and  Work  of  the  Seventh  Earl  ofShaftesbury.    London, 

1891-92. 
A  biography  written  with  the  assistance  of  Shaftesbury's  private  papers, 

though  the  work  was  not  undertaken  at  the  request  of  the  family. 

Hutchins,  B.  L.,  and  Harrison,  A.     A  History  of  Factory  Legislation. 

London,  1903. 

Lovatt-Fraser,  J.  A.    The  National  Insurance  Act;  1911.    London,  1912. 
Mackay,  Thomas.    Public  Relief  of  the  Poor.    London,  1901. 
Six  lectures  of  unusual  value. 

Nicholls,  Sir  G.,  and  Mackay,  T.    A  History  of  the  English  Poor  Law. 
London,  1898. 
The  most  complete  historical  work  on  the  subject. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 


xv 


Paterson,  A.    Across  the  Bridges,  or  Life  by  the  South  London  Riverside. 
London,  1911. 

An  excellent  description  of  slum  conditions  by  a  talented  and  sympathetic 
observer. 

Redlich,  J.    Local  Government  in  England.    London,  1903.    2  vols. 
Report  from  the  Poor  Law  Commissioners  on  an  Inquiry  into  the  Sanitary 

Condition  of  the  Labouring  Population  of  Great  Britain.    London,  1842. 
Richardson,  B.  W.     The  Health  of  Nations.    A  Review  of  the  Works  of 

Edwin  Chadwick,  with  a  biographical  Dissertation.    London,  1887. 

2  vols. 

Rowntree,  B.  S.    Poverty,  a  Study  of  a  City.    London,  1901. 
Simon,  Sir  John.    English  Sanitary  Institutions.    London,  1890. 
The  Land.    The  Report  of  the  Land  Enquiry  Committee.    Vol.  I,  Rural. 

Vol.  n,  Urban.    London,  1913. 

Webb,  Mrs.  Sidney.    The  Case  for  the  Factory  Acts.    London,  1902. 
Webb,  Sidney  and  Beatrice.    English  Poor  Law  Policy.    London,  1910. 
Discussion  of  the  problem  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  Minority  Report. 

The  Prevention  of  Destitution.    London,  1912. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Dewsnup,  op.  cit. 
Hutchins  and  Harrison,  op.  cit. 
Simon,  op.  cit. 

Mackay,  T.    Public  Relief  of  the  Poor. 
Paterson,  op.  cit. 
Rowntree,  op.  cit. 
Webb,  Prevention  of  Destitution. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Brunei,  I.    The  Life  of  Isambard  Kingdon  Brunei.    London,  1870. 

Grinling,  C.  H.    History  of  the  Great  Northern  Railway.    London,  1898. 

Jeaffreson,  J.  C.    Life  of  Robert  Stephenson.    London,  1866. 

Pratt,  E.  A.  A  History  of  Inland  Transport  and  Communication  in  Eng- 
land. London,  1912. 

Smiles,  S.    Life  of  George  Stephenson.    London,  1858. 

Steel,  W.  L.  The  History  of  the  London  and  North-Western  Railway. 
London,  1914. 

Thurston,  R.  H.  A  History  of  the  Growth  of  the  Steam  Engine.  New 
York,  1902. 

Williams,  F.  S.  The  Midland  Railway,  its  Rise  and  its  Progress.  Lon- 
don, 1876. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Pratt,  op.  cit.,  chapters  18,  19,  20. 
Thurston,  op.  cit.,  chapter  4. 


xvi  SELECTED  REFERENCES 

CHAPTER  XVIII 

Critical  Discussions. 

Ackworth,  W.  M.  The  Railways  and  the  Traders.  A  Sketch  of  the  Rail- 
way Rates  Question.  London,  1891. 

Butterworth,  S.  K.    The  Railway  and  Canal  Traffic  Act  of  1888.    London. 

Cohn,  G.  Untersuchungen  uber  die  englische  Eisenbahnpolitik.  Leipzig, 
187^83.  2  vols. 

Grierson,  J.    Railway  Rates,  English  and  Foreign.    London,  1886. 

Pratt,  E.  A.    Railways  and  their  Rates.    London,  1905. 

Stevens,  E.  C.  English  Railways.  Their  Development  and  their  Re- 
lation to  the  State.  London,  1915. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Pratt,  op.  cit. 
Stevens,  op.  cit. 

CHAPTER  XIX 

Critical  Discussions. 
Brown,  W.  J.    The  Prevention  and  Control  of  Monopolies.   London,  1914. 

Discussion  of  the  policy  of  regulation  by  a  lawyer  with  experience  in  control 
of  combinations  in  Australasia.    Conservative. 

Carter,  G.  R.    The  Tendency  toward  Industrial  Combination.    London, 

1913. 

Hirst,  F.  W.    Monopolies,  Cartells  and  Trusts.    London,  1905. 
A  brief  essay  from  the  conservative  point  of  view. 

Hobson,  J.  A.    Evolution  of  Modern  Capitalism.    London,  1910. 
Moderate  socialistic  view.     Chapters  V,  vn,  vm,  rx,  xvn. 

Levy,  H.  Monopoly  and  Competition,  a  Study  in  English  Industrial  Com- 
bination. London,  1911. 

Macrosty,  H.  W.  The  Trust  Movement  in  British  Industry.  London,  1907. 
A  descriptive  treatment  not  notably  influenced  by  the  views  of  the  author. 

Trusts  and  the  State.    London,  1901. 

Propagandist  literature  of  the  Fabian  Society,  but  moderate  and  persuasive. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Brown,  op.  cit. 
Levy,  op.  cit. 
Macrosty,  Trust  Movement. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Critical  Discussions. 

Arnold  Forster,  H.  0.    English  Socialism  of  Today.    London,  1908. 
Sees  a  future  for  radical  agitation  only  under  the  leadership  of  the  Socialists. 

Bowley,  A.  L.     Wages  in  the  United  Kingdom  in  the  XlXth  Century. 
Cambridge,  1900. 
A  scholarly  study  by  a  famous  statistician. 


SELECTED  REFERENCES  xvii 

• 

Burgess,  J.    John  Burns.    Glasgow,  1911. 

A  biographical  sketch  by  a  hostile  critic.  An  account  of  the  "treason"  of 
Burns.  Affords  therefore  much  insight  into  the  bitterness  of  feeling  inside  the 
ranks  of  organized  labor. 

Cole,  G.  D.  H.      The  World  of  Labor.    London,  1913. 

The  best  single  study  of  recent  conditions  in  the  field  of  labor.  The  author 
has  a  policy,  moderate  in  character,  but  it  does  not  intrude  itself  into  the  nar- 
rative. 

Gammage,  R.  G.  History  of  the  Chartist  Movement.  1837-54.  New- 
castle, 1894. 

Giffen,  Sir  R.  Economic  Inquiries  and  Studies.  Vol.  I,  p.  382;  Progress 
of  the  Working  Classes  in  the  Last  Half-Century  (1883). 

Henderson,  F.  The  Labour  Unrest.  What  it  is,  and  what  it  portends. 
London,  no  date. 

Hovell,  Mark.     The  Chartist  Movement.    Manchester,  1918. 

Humphrey,  A.  W.    A  History  of  Labour  Representation.    London,  1912. 

A  study  that  is  seemingly  accurate  in  many  minute  details  of  candidacies  and 
contests,  but  not  very  illuminating  in  its  treatment  of  the  relation  of  the  La- 
bour members  to  the  Liberal  whip. 

Money,  L.  G.  Chiozza.    Riches  and  Poverty.    1910.    London,  1911. 

A  study  of  distribution  by  a  radical,  somewhat  sensational  in  tone,  but  by 
no  means  unsound  in  its  calculations. 

Rose,  F.  H.    The  Coming  Force.    Manchester,  1909. 

Stamp,  J.  C.    British  Incomes  and  Property.  ,  London,  1916. 

A  study  of  the  Income  Tax  returns  with  reference  to  their  use  by  economists, 
designed  to  assist  persons  without  official  knowledge  through  the  many  pitfalls 
of  the  returns.  Mistakes  of  Levi  and  Mallock  are  noted.  Some  constructive 
conclusions  are  reached  but  they  are  couched  in  a  form  that  renders  them  un- 
available for  the  purposes  of  the  present  chapter. 

Watson,  A.    A  Great  Labour  Leader:  the  Life  of  Thomas  Burt.    London, 
1908. 
A  significant  biography  of  one  of  the  first  Labour  M.P.'s. 

Wilson,  J.    Memories  of  a  Labour  Leader,    London,  1910. 

Collateral  Reading. 
Cole,  op.  cit. 
Hovell,  op.  cit. 


INDEX 


Accidents  in  industry,  risk  of,  placed  by 
insurance  upon  consumers,  423. 

Acquitaine,  grants  to  wine  merchants 
from,  151. 

Administrative  nihilism,  Webb's  allega- 
tion of,  370. 

Administrative  system,  lack  of  a  cen- 
tralized, 388. 

Aggregation,  of  free  and  of  unfree  work- 
ers, 57. 

Agriculture,  basis  of  prosperity  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  262;  capitalistic  farm- 
ing, 227;  the  midland  system,  226;  no 
ideal  system,  228;  relation  to  indus- 
try, 208,  251 ;  relative  importance  of, 
to  industry,  260-61;  size  of  farms, 
227;  yeoman  farming,  227. 

Algeria,  French  land  policy  in,  111. 

Aliens,  charters  to  a.  craftsmen,  177; 
grants  of  privileges  to  merchant  a., 
151. 

Alien  merchants,  royal  privileges  granted 
to,  146. 

Allotment,  definition  of,  240. 

Allotments,  accomplishment  of  legisla- 
tion on,  243;  acts  of  1882  and  1887, 
242;  compulsory  provision  of  land  for, 
242;  early  experiments  with,  241; 
origin  of,  in  the  village  community, 
118-19;  provision  for,  in  the  Poor 
Laws,  241;  to  villagers  in  the  open 
fields,  115. 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers,  the, 
constitution  and  organization  of,  523- 
24;  decline  of  its  power,  527;  grants 
during  the  builders'  strike,  525;  the 
model  for  craft  unions,  523;  policy  of, 
524. 

Amalgamation  of  railways,  projects  for, 
in  1853,  454. 

Amboyna,  massacre  at,  278. 

Ancient  Trades  Decayed  and  Repaired 
Again,  the,  279. 

Antiquity,  parallels  with  the  Middle 
Ages,  41. 

Apprentices,  72;  pauper,  360;  signifi- 
cance of  the  restriction  of  numbers  of, 
353. 

Apprentices,  the  Statute  of,  attempts 
to  enforce,  about  1800,  354;  distin- 
guished three  groups  of  crafts,  192; 
implies  the  existence  of  a  wage-earn- 
ing class,  193;  later  significance  of, 
368;  purposes  of,  192;  purpose  of  the  | 


wage-fixing  clauses,  367;  wage-fixing 
clauses,  193. 

Apprenticeship,  73;  attempts  to  enforce 
legal  provisions  on,  353 ;  decay  of  the 
system,  353;  in  Mesopotamia,  37;  reg- 
ulations of,  in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts, 
82. 

Arable  land,  development  of  communal 
use  of,  118. 

Aristocracy,  the,  control  of  land  by,  cur- 
tailed, 242;  its  demand  for  agricul- 
tural products,  20;  development  of  a 
Germanic,  122;  disappearance  of  Ro- 
man, 122;  factors  creating  an,  122; 
the  feudal,  29;  indirect  participation 
in  industry,  47 ;  its  place  in  the  medie- 
val village,  120;  position  of,  in  the  an- 
cient city,  26;  its  relation  to  agrarian 
history,  109. 

Arkwright,  R.,  development  of  the  water 
frame,  295;  early  career,  294;  manu- 
factures stockings  and  calicoes,  295; 
his  patent  suits,  296;  relations  with 
Kay  and  Highs,  294 ;  secures  repeal  of 
the  Calico  Act,  295 ;  his  water  frame 
contrasted  with  Paul's  machine,  293. 

Artisans,  in  antiquity,  8;  during  the 
dark  ages,  55;  in  Greece,  45;  obliga- 
tions of,  under  the  late  Roman  Em- 
pire, 54;  position  of,  in  Egypt,  33;  po- 
sition of,  in  the  nineteenth  century, 
503;  status  in  Mesopotamia,  35. 

Ashley,  W.  J.,  165;  conception  of  the 
town  economy,  134;  interpretation  of 
sixteenth-century  legislation  in  the 
woolen  industry,  224. 

Aulnager,  his  functions  and  his  ac- 
counts, 216. 

Bailiff,  duties  of  a  manorial,  129. 

Balance  of  power,  the,  influence  of  eco- 
nomic changes  on,  268. 

Balance  of  trade,  the,  use  of  the  concep- 
tion in  the  seventeenth  century,  282. 

Basic  process,  for  application  of  the  con- 
verter to  acid  ores,  344;  extension  of, 
in  the  iron  trade,  345. 

Beloch,  discussion  of  slavery  in  an- 
tiquity, 8;  estimates  of  population, 
28,  42. 

Benefit  societies,  in  Rome,  48.  See  also 
Conifrere. 

Bessemer,  Sir  H.,  274;  the  bronze  pow- 
der episode,  335-39;  criticism  of,  by 


INDEX 


English  iron  masters,  343;  early  ca- 
reer of,  334;  experiments  in  middle 
life,  339;  the  steel-making  inventions, 
340-43. 

Black  Death,  the,  extent  of  its  ravages 
uncertain,  96;  presumed  effect  on 
population,  92;  relation  to  commuta- 
tion, 132. 

Blacksmith,  in  early  Egypt,  31 ;  in  early 
Greece,  43;  on  the  Kasai,  4—5. 

Blanqui,  use  of  the  phrase  "Industrial 
Revolution,"  247. 

Blast,  artificial,  its  influence  on  smelt- 
ing, 316;  produced  by  falling  water, 
317-18. 

Blowing  machinery,  Smeaton's,  322 ;  vi- 
tal importance  of,  322-23. 

Board  of  Health,  the  first,  398;  nature 
of  opposition  to,  399. 

Board  of  Trade,  exercised  regulatory 
functions  over  railways,  466;  func- 
tions of,  in  connection  with  railways, 
463 ;  participation  in  the  preparation 
of  rate  schedules,  470;  supervision  of 
railway  projects,  461. 

Bolton,  Lancashire,  climate  of,  265. 

Book  of  the  Crafts,  the,  59;  60;  70;  77; 
regulations  of  apprenticeship,  82 ;  reg- 
ulations common  in  craft  statutes,  82 ; 
status  of  journeymen,  83;  status  of 
masters,  84. 

Boon  days,  128. 

Booth,  proposed  the  multitubular  boiler 
for  the  locomotive,  442. 

Bordarii  (crofters),  123. 

Boroughs,  as  county  seats,  160;  defini- 
tion of,  158.;  features  of,  161;  popula- 
tion of,  104-05;  trade  and  industry  in, 
159. 

Boston,  Mass.,  climate  of,  265. 

Boulton,  partnership  with  Watt,  327. 

Bourgeois,  E.,  78. 

Bowley,  A.  L.,  505;  studies  of  wages, 
502. 

Brentano,  L.,  Origin  and  Development  of 
Gilds,  166-67;  his  theory  of  gild  de- 
velopment, 167. 

British  New  Guinea,  coastal  trade  of  the 
natives  of,  6. 

Brown  and  Company,  Sheffield,  activi- 
ties of  the  firm,  484-85. 

Bucher,  K.,  217;  conception  of  the  dawn 
of  history,  24;  concept  of  household 
industry  criticized,  36,  45;  conception 
of  town  economy,  134;  discussion  of 
the  household  in  antiquity,  8;  Indus- 
trial Evolution,  3;  underestimates  the 
importance  of  commerce,  39. 

Bullion,  export  of,  to  India,  281. 

Burgesses,  obligations  of,  159-60. 

Butchers,  craft  of,  said  to  have  per- 
sisted at  Paris  since  Roman  times,  63. 


Calais,  the  staple  at,  154. 

Calico  Act,  the,  284;  repealed,  286;  re- 
pealed at  the  instance  of  Arkwright, 
295. 

Cambridge,  161;  early  history  of,  159; 
occupational  groups  in,  185. 

Candle-makers,  at  Paris,  wage  and  craft 
work,  11. 

Capital,  source  of,  for  early  railways, 
443. 

Capitalism,  early  rise  of,  218. 

Capitalist  employer,  functions  of,  13; 
his  new  functions  in  the  factory,  16. 

Capitalistic  control,  beginnings  of,  13; 
of  industry  at  Paris,  1300,  72 ;  its  rise, 
in  the  woolen  industries,  208. 

Carding  machines,  288. 

Cardwell,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Railways,  in  1853,  454. 

Cardwell's  Committee,  policy  on  com- 
petition adopted  by,  454. 

Carlyle,  T.,  Past  and  Present,  249. 

Carpenters,  their  connection  with  the 
Royal  Household,  80. 

Carta  Mercatoria,  146;  151;  its  provi- 
sions, 152. 

Cartel,  the,  481-82. 

Cartwright,  invention  of  the  power 
loom,  301. 

Cast  iron,  conditions  essential  to  its  pro- 
duction, 316;  produced  in  the  bloom- 
ery  furnace,  318. 

Centralization,  opposed  by  Toulmin 
Smith  and  his  group,  390. 

Cesspools,  in  early  towns,  395-96. 

Chadwick,  Edwin,  career  and  charac- 
terization, 392-94;  plan  for  reform  of 
the  Poor-Law,  420;  policies  unpopu- 
lar, 399;  proposals  for  improved  sani- 
tary conveniences,  397. 

Changes  in  population,  88. 

Charcoal,  scarcity  of,  319. 

Charter  of  Liberties,  of  the  railways,  464. 

Charter,  the  People's,  516. 

Charters,  hearings  on  the  applications 
of  railways  for,  461;  parliamentary 
expense  incurred  by  railways  for,  459 ; 
procedure  for  acquisition  of,  460-61; 
provisions  of  early  railway,  462. 

Chartism,  aims  of  the  London  group, 
514;  the  Birmingham  group,  517;  con- 
stitutionalist tendencies  of,  514;  draft- 
ing of  the  Charter,  516;  failure  of  the 
great  petition,  518;  genesis  of  the  pro- 
gram, 514;  importance  of,  512;  influ- 
ence of  anti-poor-law  agitation  on, 
516;  London  Working  Men's  Associa- 
tion, 514,  516;  the  petition  and  the  six 
points,  515;  relation  to  the  Reform 
agitation  of  1832,  514;  socialistic 
background  of,  613;  threatened  vio- 
lence, 517. 


INDEX 


xxi 


Child,  Sir  J.,  changed  the  politics  of  the 
East  India  Company,  280;  defense  o 
the  East  India  Company,  279. 

Cholesbury,  parish  abandoned  to  the 
poor,  417. 

City,  the  ancient,  26;  the  modern,  29 
technical  meaning  of,  in  England,  158 
See  also  Towns;  Urban  life;  Bor- 
oughs. 

Class  consciousness,  among  London  arti- 
sans, 1833-36,  514. 

Classes  of  society,  about  1086,  123. 

Classical  Economists,  the,  513. 

Cleave,  John,  514. 

Climate,  relation  of  a  humid  climate  to 
textile  manufacture,  263;  relation  to 
textile  manufacture  (table),  267.  See 
also  Humidity. 

Cloth,  market  for  Suffolk,  220. 

Cloth  manufacture.  See  Woolen  indus- 
try. 

Clothiers,  activities  restricted  by  the 
Weavers'  Act,  212;  become  capital- 
ists, 208;  certain  poor,  222;  at  Col- 
chester, 217;  as  employers  of  weavers, 
211;  in  the  Suffolk  woolen  industry, 
218;  in  the  west  of  England,  213.  See 
also  Drapers. 

Coal,  significance  of  its  use  in  the  metal 
trades,  314;  use  of,  by  Dudley,  320. 

Coal  trade,  combinations  in  Germany 
and  the  United  States,  478. 

Coats,  J.  &  P.  Ltd.,  history  of  the  firm, 
489-90. 

Coke,  influence  on  the  use~of  the  bloom- 
ery  furnace,  319. 

Colchester,  occupational  groups  in,  185; 
putting-out  system  established,  217. 

Collective  bargaining,  beginnings  at 
Coventry,  374-75;  in  Gloucestershire, 
1756,  370. 

Collegia,  in  Rome,  48. 

Ceilings,  Jesse,  advocates  small  hold- 
ings, 245. 

Cologne,  149. 

Coloni  (tenant  farmers),  121. 

Combination,  tendency  toward,  475; 
horizontal,  in  the  textile  trades,  489; 
in  the  thread  trade,  490;  vertical,  ad- 
vantages of,  484 ;  vertical,  advantages 
in  the  steel  trade,  485-87;  vertical, 
does  not  destroy  competition,  488-89. 

Combination  Laws,  the,  377;  aspira- 
tions of  laborers  following  the  repeal 
of,  519;  the  committee  of  1823  on,  382. 

Combinations,  among  railways,  468; 
causes  of  late  development  of,  476; 
causes  of,  in  the  steel  trade,  478; 
forms  of  permanent,  483;  legal  classi- 
fication of,  479;  in  the  Newcastle  coal 
trade,  476-77;  temporary,  482;  verti- 
cal and  horizontal,  483. 


Combinations  of  working  men,  the  act 

of  1825,  on,  385. 

Commerce,  expansion  of,  22;  expansion 
during  the  Middle  Ages,  22 ;  expansion 
leading  to  the  Industrial  Revolution, 
23;  importance  of,  in  France  after  the 
invasions,  53;  relative  order  of  emer- 
gence as  compared  with  industry,  39; 
of  Rome,  27. 

Commercial  theory,  of  Greek  develop- 
ment, 40. 

Commercial  treaty,  with  France,  pro- 
posed in  1713,  283. 

Commission  system,  14.  See  also  Put- 
ting-out system. 
Common  carriers,  development  of  tram 

lines  to  serve  as,  432. 
Common  pasture,  effect  of  destruction 
of,    on   the   diet   of   the   poor,    239; 
Young's   proposals,    239;    contempo- 
rary dissatisfaction  with,  238;  conse- 
quences of  their  destruction,  238;  pol- 
icy concerning,  237. 
Common,  rights  of,  232. 
Communal  use  of  arable  land,  118. 
Communal  use  of  meadow  land,  118. 
Communism,  traces  of,  among  crafts- 
men, 85;  not  practiced  in  the  village 
community,  115. 

Commutation,  its  influence  upon  the 
status  of  tenant  farmers,  131;  of  ma- 
norial dues,  131;  mutual  advantages 
of,  132;  progress  of,  132. 
Jompanies,  nature  of  companies  for 
foreign  trade,  147. 

Compensation  Laws,  adopted  in  Eng- 
land, 425;  act  of  1897,  425;  amend- 
ments, 1900,  1906,  425;  opposition  of 
organized  labor  to,  426. 
iompetition,  the  essence  of,  496;  not 
destroyed   by   vertical   combination, 
488;   a   relative   term,   495;    unfair, 
among  craftsmen,  84. 
•ompetition  among  railways,  disadvan- 
tages of  limited,  467-68;  nature  and 
advantages   of,  467;  policy  adopted 
by  Cardwell's  committee,  454;  policy 
adopted  in  regard  to,  466-67. 
Composition,  the,  at  Norwich,  179. 
Concentration  of  wealth,  the  form  more 
important    than    the    amount,    510; 
meaning  of,  508. 

Confr6rie,  166;  perhaps  connected  with 
Roman  collegia,  53. 
!ongested  areas,  provision  for  reorgani- 
zation of,  405. 
onspiracy,  doctrine  of,  380. 
onstable,  the  village,  130. 
onstantinople,  autonomous  crafts  in, 
50;  Prefect  of,  50. 

onsumer,    seldom    in    direct    contact 
with  the  craft  producer,  12. 


XX11 


INDEX 


Consumption,  standardized,  21. 

Converter,  the,  genesis  of  Bessemer's 
idea,  341;  limitations  of  the  use  of, 
343;  mode  of  operation  of,  341. 

Copyhold  tenure,  132. 

Cordwainer,  63. 

Corporate  personality,  development  of 
the  concept,  162. 

Corporation,  the  large,  advantages  of,  483. 

Cort,  H.,  his  inventions,  331. 

Cosmopolitanism,  21;  during  the  Mid- 
dle Ages,  164. 

Cottage  industry,  exemptions  in  the 
Weavers'  Act  in  favor  of,  213;  woolen 
weaving,  211. 

Cottagers  (crofters),  injured  by  enclo- 
sure, 238;  obligations  of,  on  a  manor, 
128;  Young's  proposals  in  their  be- 
half, 239. 

Cottarii.  See  above,  under  Cottagers. 

Cotton,  use  of,  in  medieval  Europe,  276. 

Cotton  industry,  effect  of  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution  on,  254;  growth  of, 
in  Great  Britain,  303  ;  importance  of 
protection  to,  286;  protected  by  the 
Manchester  Act,  285;  rise  of,  308-09. 

Cotton  spinning,  effect  of  humidity  on, 
263. 

Cotton  trade,  early  history  of,  276. 

Cottons,  East  Indian,  compete  with 
woolens,  215;  competition  with  Euro- 
pean textiles,  278;  effect  of  their  in- 
troduction in  Europe,  252;  effect  of 
prohibitions  against  their  importa- 
tion, 253  ;  introduction  of,  in  Europe, 
278;  not  an  original  purpose  of  the 
East  India  Companies,  277;  prohibi- 
tion of  importation,  by  the  Calico 
Act,  284;  as  trade  goods  in  the  islands, 
277;  use  of,  in  England,  279. 

Courts,  at  fairs,  143. 

Coventry,  labor  t 


Craft   gilds,   cha 
Constantinople 
on,   78;   origins 
Paris,  76;  proble 


at,  374-77. 
istics  of,   74;  at 
feudal  influences 
sworn   crafts   at 
s  of  origins,  75;  Ro- 
man and  Teutonic  influences,  75;  a 
spontaneous  outgrowth,  50. 
Craft  industry,  9. 
Craft  specialization,  based  on  physical 

limitations,  38. 
Craft  unions.   See  Trade  unions;  also 

Amalgamated  Society  of  Engineers. 

Craft  work,  beginnings  of,  4-5  ;  in  early 

Egypt,  33;  in  Mesopotamia,  36;  no- 

tion of,  10;  a  short-lived  form,  217. 

Craft  workers,  relations  with  the  con- 

sumer, 68. 

Crafts,  administrative  organization  ab- 
sent during  the  dark  ages,  54;  in  an- 
tiquity and  the  Middle  Ages,  29;  au- 
tonomy at  Constantinople,  50;  chains 


of  correlated,  13;  chartered,  75;  con- 
tent of  statutes  of,  81;  delimitations 
of  their  activities,  85;  develop  early, 
7-8;  in  the  eleventh  century,  56;  in 
early  Egypt,  31;  engaged  in  export 
trade,  61 ;  engaged  in  finishing  of  wool- 
ens, 204;  engaged  in  the  preparation 
of  foods,  at  Rome,  49;  in  the  feudal 
household,  79;  free,  75;  groups  dis- 
tinguished in  the  Statute  of  Appren- 
tices, 192;  groups  of,  in  the  Middle 
Ages,  60;  ideals  not  achieved,  81;  im- 
portance of  lists  of,  10;  no  lists  possi- 
ble for  early  Greece,  44;  lists  of,  at 
Paris  in  the  eleventh  century,  62;  lists 
of  in  Rome,  48;  in  Mesopotamia,  35; 
not  always  organized  as  gilds,  187;  in 
the  ninth  century,  56;  numbers  of,  at 
Norwich,  185;  numbers  at  Paris,  60; 
numbers  of,  in  various  English  towns, 
186:  obligations  of  members  of,  82; 
organization  in  antiquity,  27;  organi- 
zation at  Rome,  48;  persistence  of,  in 
the  dark  ages,  55;  process  of  speciali- 
zation gradual,  8;  records  for  Paris, 
59;  specialization  by  processes  in 
Greece,  43;  stages  in  the  development 
of,  11-12;  subordinate  importance  of 
textile,  in  Rome,  49;  sworn,  76;  traces 
of  communism  among,  85;  unions  of 
smaller  and  larger  crafts  at  Norwich, 
180. 

Craftsmen,  regulations  of  status  of,  82. 

Cranage,  Thomas  and  George,  330. 

Crofters.  See  Cottagers. 

Crompton,  invention  of  the  mule,  298; 
poverty  of,  300;  various  names  given 
his  spinning  machine,  298. 

Cross  Act,  1875,  405. 

Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern,  the,  meet- 
ing of  Chartists  at,  515. 

Culture  of  antiquity,  41. 

Cunningham,  W.,  96;  Growth  of  English 
Industry  and  Commerce,  250. 

Danes,  effect  of  their  invasions,  122. 

Darby,  relation  of  the  family  to  the  iron 
industry,  321. 

Darby,  Abraham,  experiments  with 
coke,  321. 

Darby,  A.,  2d,  success  with  coke  as  fuel, 
321. 

Dark  ages,  the,  25;  industrial  conditions 
in,  64;  persistence  of  crafts,  55. 

D'Avenant,  C.,  Essay  on  the  East  Indian 
Trade,  284. 

Death  rates,  decline  in,  499. 

Delimitation  of  crafts,  85. 

Density  of  population,  normal,  89;  rela- 
tive changes  in,  among  English  coun- 
ties, 98;  significance  of  deviation  from 
the  mean,  100. 


INDEX 


XXlll 


Dependent  classes,  on  a  manor,  128. 

Dictionary  of  Jean  de  Garlande,  59. 

Direct  contact,  between  producer  and 
consumer,  60,  69. 

Direct  process,  in  the  iron  industry,  gen- 
erality of  its  use  in  the  early  period, 
314,  315. 

Disintegration,  of  industrial  processes, 
12,  66. 

Dispersion  of  population,  characteristic 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  102. 

Distress,  complex  causes  of,  in  the  early 
nineteenth  century,  364. 

Distribution  of  wealth,  changes  in,  511; 
concept  of  normal,  509;  equality  of, 
608;  implications  of  normal,  509. 

Division  of  labor,  geographical,  6;  hori- 
zontal, 15;  vertical,  9;  relation  to  in- 
dustrial forms,  18. 

Domesday  Book,  125;  social  classifica- 
tions in,  123-24;  evidence  of  disper- 
sion of  population  in,  103. 

Domestic  system,  13.  See  also  Putting- 
out  system. 

Dorsetshire  laborers,  the,  case  of,  521. 

Drapers,  61;  as  capitalists,  71;  become 
capitalists,  208;  at  Paris,  eleventh 
century,  64;  of  Shrewsbury,  211.  See 
also  Clothiers. 

Draper's  Dictionary,  the,  199. 

Dublin,  173,  174;  occupational  groups 
in,  185. 

Dudley,  D.,  experiments  with  coal,  320; 
purposes  of  his  experiments,  253. 

Dutch,  the,  their  struggle  for  the  Spice 
Islands,  277. 

Dyeing,  a  specialty  of  some  Flemish  and 
Italian  towns,  202. 

Dyers,  early  emergence  of,  12;  conflicts 
with  the  drapers  at  Paris,  71 ;  precede 
weavers  in  Egypt,  34. 

East  India  Company,  its  early  trading 
policy,  277 ;  export  of  bullion,  281 ;  its 
first  factories  in  India,  277;  its  hold 
upon  the  Government,  284;  Mun's  de- 
fense of  its  trade,  281 ;  its  politics,  280. 

East  Indian  textiles,  bill  to  prohibit  the 
use  of,  1696-97,  279. 

Eberstadt,  78. 

Economic  equilibrium,  disturbances  of, 
268. 

Edward  I,  grants  to  foreign  merchants, 
151. 

Edward  VI,  statute  of,  confiscating  the 
endowments  of  the  gilds,  190. 

Egypt,  character  of  records,  30;  early 
culture  of,  24. 

Employer,  authority  of,  in  the  factory, 
348;  early  functions,  13.  See  also  Capi- 
talist employer. 

Enclosure,  by  act  of  Parliament,  231 ;  by 


agreement,  233;  and  changes  of  pro- 
prietorship, 228;  continuity  of,  229; 
effect  on  the  diet  of  the  poor,  239;  er- 
rors of  policy,  238;  forms  of,  225; 
Lord  Thurlow's  criticism  of  procedure 
in  Parliament  on,  236;  meaning  of, 
225;  partial  in  the  early  period,  230- 
31;  policy  towards  commons  in  the 
acts  of  Parliament,  237;  poorer  villag- 
ers hostile  to,  233 ;  precedents  for  Par- 
liamentary acts,  234;  problems  of  title 
raised  by,  237;  procedure  under  act  of 
Parliament,  235;  progress  of,  230; 
purposes  of,  226;  relative  areas  to  ara- 
ble and  pasture,  231;  rights  of  com- 
mon an  obstacle,  232;  theory  of  Par- 
liamentary acts  for,  235;  of  waste, 
232. 

England,  dependence  upon  Continental 
influences,  102;  a  frontier  province  of 
Europe,  102;  growth  of  population  in, 
88;  population  prior  to  the  Black 
Death,  92,  97;  under-populated  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  90. 

English  Sewing  Cotton  Company,  finan- 
cial difficulties  of,  492;  its  pool  with 
Coats,  491. 

Enumerations  of  population,  in  the 
Middle  Ages,  87;  deficiencies  of 
French  figures,  91;  poll-tax  returns, 
93;  subsidy  rolls,  93. 

Evolution  of  industry,  not  merely  a 
matter  of  typical  forms,  45-46. 

Factory,  the,  common  definitions,  346- 
47;  development  checked  by  legisla- 
tion, 352;  development  opposed  by 
the  workmen,  348;  essential  features 
of,  347;  legislative  definitions,  413; 
primitive  forms  in  Greece,  44;  proba- 
ble dates  of  its  introduction  in  various 
textile  trades,  358-59 ;  reasons  for  the 
slow  growth  of,  349;  relation  of  ma- 
chinery to,  350;  rise  of,  in  the  cotton 
industry,  356;  a  rudimentary,  36;  so- 
cial problems  of,  359;  without  ma- 
chinery, 350. 

Factory  (trading  post),  at  Surat,  277. 

Factory  Act,  of  1802,  410;  of  1819,  410; 
of  1833,  411;  of  1844,  412;  of  1847, 
413;  of  1864,  414;  of  1867,  413-14;  of 
1878,  413,  415;  of  1883,  415;  of  1889, 
415;  of  1898,  415;  amended  and  codi- 
fied in  1901,  415;  dangerous  trades 
regulated,  414;  early  history  of,  410; 
extension  of  principles,  413. 

Factory  inspectors,  created  by  the  act 
of  1833,  411;  defects  of  their  returns, 
414;  limitations  of  their  reports,  361. 

Factory  legislation,  based  on  the  police 
power,  408;  inquiries  of  1831-33,  411. 

Factory  system,  the,  essential  features 


XXIV 


INDEX 


of,  16;  experimentation  with  in 
France,  224;  growth  of,  362;  hostility 
of  workmen  to,  16;  legal  definitions 
inadequate,  17;  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury woolen  industry,  223 ;  tendencies 
toward,  in  antiquity,  46. 
Factories,  first  tendencies  towurd,  355; 
not  confined  to  the  period  of  the  In- 
dustrial Revolution,  46;  proportions 
of  men,  women,  and  children  in,  357; 
rudimentary,  57,  73.  See  also  Mills. 
Fagniez,  on  the  survival  of  Roman  in- 
stitutions, 53-54. 

Fairs,  136;  business  of,  141;  their  courts, 
142,  143;  cycles  of,  140;  devoted  to 
wholesale  trade,  138-39;  dues  levied, 
142;  freedom  of,  142-43;  not  sharply 
distinguished  from  markets,  137; 
number  of,  138;  prorxlure  in  their 
courts,  144;  regulations  of  St.  Giles' 
Fair  at  Winchester,  142;  trade  char- 
acteristic of  the  English,  142. 
Fallowing,  benefits  from,  113;  medieval 

use  of,  114. 
Farms,  scattered,  112. 
Farming.  See  Agriculture. 
Felt-makers  of  London,  organization  of 

journeymen,  368. 
Feudal  household,  crafts  in,  79. 
Feudal  theory  of  gilds,  78. 
Field   system,   the   open,    114-15;   the 

three,  114;  the  two,  113. 
Flach,  J.,  on  the  survival  of  Roman  in- 
stitutions, 53. 

Foods,  crafts  preparing,  early  develop- 
ment of,  in  Rome,  49. 
Formalism,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  135. 
Forms    of    industrial    organization,    4; 
craft  work  in  the  east  counties,   217; 
putting-out  system,  216;  putting-out 
system  in  the  west  of  England  cloth- 
ing industry,  213.   See  also  Putting- 
out  system;  Factory;  Factory  system. 
Forms  of  settlement,  in  England,  116. 
Fortrey,  S.,  England's  Interest  and  Im- 
provement, 282. 
Fortunes,  large,   the  problem  of,  506, 

510. 

France,  growth  of  population,  88;  im- 
portance of  her  economic  influence 
during  the  dark  ages,  53;  population 
in  the  fourteenth  century,  59;  pro- 
posed commercial  treaty  with,  1713, 
283 ;  Roman  influences,  52 ;  stationary 
population  of,  270. 

Francotte,  H.,  41;  44;  timidity  in  classi- 
fying industrial  forms  in  Greece,  45. 
Fraternity.  See  Gilds,  religious. 
Freeman,  obligations  of,  to  the  manor, 

129. 

Free  trade  policy,  origin  of,  280;  Tory 
support  of,  280. 


Free  trade  theory,  developed  by  the  de- 
fenders of  the  East  India  Company, 
283. 

Friendship,  the  basis  of  primitive  trade,  5. 

Fullers,  employed  by  Suffolk  clothiers, 
220;  low  repute  of,  205. 

Fulling,  appliances  for,  205-06;  charac- 
ter of  the  process,  205. 

Furnace,  the  bloomery,  318;  coke  used 
in  the  bloomery,  319;  low  open 
hearth,  in  Sweden,  317;  the  reverber- 
atory,  329-30. 

Gaskell,  P.,  pessimism  of,  248. 

Gasquet,  92;  96. 

Gay,  E.  F.,  on  the  extent  of  early  enclo- 
sures, 230;  judgment  of  the  purposes 
of  early  enclosing,  231. 

Gentlemen's  agreements,  481. 

Geographical  division  of  labor,  among 
the  peoples  of  New  Guinea,  6. 

Germanic  customs,  described  by  Taci- 
tus, 119. 

Gibbins,  H.  de  B.,  on  the  Industrial 
Revolution,  249. 

Giffen,  Sir  Robert,  505. 

Gig  mills,  206. 

Gilchrist,  P.  C.,  partnership  with 
Thomas,  344. 

Gild,  meanings  of  the  word,  165;  types 
of,  165. 

Gild  merchant,  its  alleged  monopoly  of 
trade,  173;  its  control  of  craftsmen, 
171;  decline  of,  181;  its  enfranchise- 
ment of  trade,  174;  its  functions,  173; 
its  monopoly  inclusive,  175;  non-resi- 
dent members,  173-74;  organization, 
176;  its  place  in  municipal  develop- 
ment, 163;  sharing  of  bargains,  175; 
struggles  with  the  craft  gilds  in  Ger- 
many, 172. 

Gilds,  adulterine,  178;  charter  incorpo- 
rating the  Tailors  of  Salisbury,  188; 
craft  organizations  less  conspicuous 
than  religious  organizations,  187;  em- 
ploying and  wage-earning  classes 
distinguished  in,  191;  French  terms 
for  the  various  types,  166;  influence 
of  pageantry  upon,  183;  membership 
of  religious  and  craft  organizations, 
182;  numbers  of,  in  various  English 
towns,  186;  relations  between  reli- 
gious and  craft  gilds,  182 ;  relative  size 
of  religious  and  craft  organizations, 
182.  See  also  Craft  gilds. 

Gilds,  craft,  a  spontaneous  outgrowth, 
50;  become  companies  when  char- 
tered by  the  King,  177;  at  Constan- 
tinople, 50;  essential  features  of,  176; 
at  London,  178;  metier  in  French,  167; 
at  Norwich,  179;  organized  within 
the  gild  merchant,  172;  position  after 


INDEX 


XXV 


the  Reformation,  190;  the  pure  type, 
178;  and  the  Reformation,  177;  types 
of,  177-78;  view  of  the  craft,  177; 
wardens  of,  at  Norwich,  179. 

Gilds,  religious,  166;  a  charter  of  incor- 
poration, 188;  denied  right  to  endow- 
ments, 187;  endowments  confiscated, 
190;  the  French  term,  166;  influence 
of  incorporation,  188;  the  inquiry  of 
1389,  168-69;  maintained  grammar 
schools,  190;  membership  of,  169; 
organization,  170;  purposes,  169;  pur- 
poses of  incorporation,  189;  secure 
charters  of  incorporation,  188. 

Gini,  Professor  C.,  509. 

Gladstone  award,  the,  451. 

Grand  National  Consolidated  Trades 
Union,  activities  in  the  case  of  the 
Dorsetshire  laborers,  521;  failure  in 
the  organization  of  strikes,  521;  its 
organization,  519-20. 

Gras,  N.  S.  B.,  132. 

Great  Northern  Railway,  the,  genesis 
of,  450;  relations  with  the  Midland, 
456. 

Great  Western  Railway,  the,  Brunei's 
conception  of,  446. 

Greece,  free  artisans  in,  45;  primitive 

factories,  44;  proportions  of  free  and 

slave  laborers,  47;  stages  of  industrial 

"  development  in,  43;  vase  painters  in, 

45. 

Grocers,  61. 

Gross,  C.,  172;  181;  the  Gild  Merchant, 
173. 

Guild.  See  Gild. 

Gyneceum,  55;  at  Saint-Germain  des 
Pres,  56. 

Hall,  Hubert,  151. 

Hall-in-the-Wood  machine,  early  name 
for  the  mule,  298. 

Hamburg,  149. 

Hammurabi,  list  of  crafts  in  his  reign, 
35. 

Hammurabi,  Code  of,  24;  37. 

Hand-loom  weaving,  reasons  for  per- 
sistence of,  349-50. 

Hansards,  the,  origins,  147;  at  times 
citizens  of  London,  148. 

Hanse,  the,  its  decline,  153;  defined,  147; 
establishment  called  the  Steelyard, 
150;  fiscal  privileges  of,  151;  govern- 
ment of,  149;  origins  of,  147;  privi- 
leges of,  recognized  by  the  City,  149; 
its  struggle  to  maintain  its  privileges, 
153;  subordinate  corporations,  149; 
trade  of,  150. 

Hargreaves,  description  of  hia  jenny, 
297-98. 

Harrison,  F.,  526. 

Hasbach,  242. 


Haskins,  C.,  Ancient  Trade  Guilds  and 
Companies  of  Salisbury,  189. 

Hayward,  duties  of,  129. 

Health,  Ministry  of,  403.  See  Board  of 
Health;  Public  Health;  Local  Govern- 
ment Act;  Local  Government  Board. 

Health  administration,  development  of 
principles  of,  400. 

Health  insurance,  act  of  1911,  426. 

Health  and  Morals  of  Apprentices  Act, 
1802,  410. 

Hetherington,  H.,  514. 

Highs,  spinning  inventions,  294. 

Hilton-Simpson,  M.  W.,  The  Land  and 
Peoples  of  the  Kasai,  4. 

Hobson,  J.  A.|  characterization  of  sweat- 
shops, 18. 

Horrocks,  loom  patents,  302. 

Hours  for  work,  defined  by  acts  of  1844, 
1847,  and  1850,  412-13;  regulation  of, 
409. 

House  waste,  early  modes  of  disposal, 
395. 

Household,  industry  in  the  feudal,  55; 
the  industrial  unit,  74. 

Household  industry,  based  on  slave  la- 
bor, 8;  Bilcher's  concept  criticized, 
45;  undiversified,  4;  undiversified,  of 
rare  occurrence,  7;  in  the  feudal  pe- 
riod, 57. 

Household,  royal,  in  Egypt,  33;  influ- 
ence on  craft  gilds,  79. 

Housing,  the  Cross  Act,  1875,  405;  diffi- 
culties of  securing  adequate  regula- 
tion of,  404;  present  problem,  406; 
the  Torrens  Act,  1867-68,  404;  Town 
Planning  Act,  1909,  405. 

Hudson  and  Tingey,  Select  Records  of 
Norwich,  179. 

Hull,  its  charter  of  1437,  162. 

Hume,  J.,  association  with  Place  in  the 
repeal  of  the  Combination  Laws,  381- 
82. 

Humidification,  artificial,  requisite,  264. 

Humidity,  effect  of,  in  cotton  spinning, 
263;  effect  on  the  strength  of  yarn, 
264;  of  twelve  selected  regions,  265- 
67. 

Hutchins  and  Harrison,  History  of  Fac- 
tory Legislation,  408. 

Incomes,  distribution  of,  in  England, 
506;  in  the  United  Kingdom,  difficul- 
ties of  estimating,  505. 

Independent  Labor  Party,  the,  519. 

India,  cost  of  cotton  spinning  in,  com- 
pared with  costs  of  mule  yarn  in  Eng- 
land, 312-13. 

Indirect  process  of  iron  production,  315. 

Industry,  conditioned  by  commerce,  39 ; 
dependence  upon  agriculture,  208; 
dependence  upon  agriculture  in  the 


XXVI 


INDEX 


Middle  Ages,  262;  in  the  feudal  house- 
hold, 57;  present  dependence  upon 
mineral  resources  and  climate,  262- 
63;  relation  to  agriculture,  251;  rela- 
tive importance  of  industry  and  agri- 
culture, 260-61. 

Industrial  development,  primarily  a 
matter  of  industrial  specialization, 
54;  stages  of,  in  Greece,  43. 

Industrial  evolution,  not  merely  a  mat- 
ter of  typical  forms,  45-46. 

Industrial  groups,  at  Paris,  in  1300,  64. 

Industrial  history,  beginnings  of  sys- 
tematic study  of,  1;  stages  in,  247;  so- 
cialistic interpretations  of,  2. 

Industrial  organization,  typical  forms,  4. 

Industrial  Revolution,  changes  in  indus- 
trial groupings,  258;  chronology  of, 
271;  the  close  of  the  period,  275;  the 
close  of  the  period  in  the  cotton  trade, 
305-06;  defined  in  terms  of  capitalism, 
250;  early  English  writers  on,  248;  its 
essential  features,  251;  Gibbins'  view, 
249 ;  importance  of  the  changes  in  the 
metal  industries,  253;  misleading  con- 
notations of  the  phrase,  249;  not  pri- 
marily characterized  by  the  emer- 
gence of  the  factory,  46 ;  tables  showing 
the  varying  relations  between  indus- 
try and  agriculture,  260-61;  primary 
causes  of,  252;  Toynbee's  view,  250. 

Industrial  specialization,  conditioned 
by  commercial  expansion,  22;  condi- 
tioned by  the  market,  19. 

Instinct  of  workmanship,  2. 

Integration  in  the  control  of  industry, 
at  Paris,  in  1300,  71. 

Interstate  Commerce  Act,  compared 
with  English  statutes,  465. 

Invention,  conditions  requisite  to  secur- 
ing large  profits  from,  339;  stages  in, 
272. 

Inventions,  conditions  of  commercial 
success,  273;  not  complete  in  them- 
selves, 272;  not  suddenly  perfected, 
251;  their  relation  to  the  growth  of 
the  cotton  industry,  287;  a  result  of 
commercial  expansion  in  the  cotton 
trade,  305. 

Inventors,  rewards  of,  273. 

Iron,  cast,  314;  introduction  of  sheet, 
332;  malleable,  314;  products  of,  314. 

Iron  ships,  early  history  of,  332. 

Jack  of  Newbury,  his  woolen  factory, 
223. 

Jenckes,  A.  L.,  The  Origin,  the  Organiza- 
tion and  the  Location  of  the  Staple  of 
England,  155. 

Jenny,  the,  description  of,  297-98. 

Journeymen,  72;  74;  regulations  con- 
cerning, in  the  Book  of  the  Crafts,  83. 


Journeymen  Steam-Engineand  Machine- 
Makers  and  Millwrights'  Society,  523. 
Junta,  the,  526;  527;  528. 

Kasai,  the,  peoples  of,  4. 

Kay,  relations  with  Arkwright,  294- 
95. 

Kenworthy  and  Bullough,  loom  patent, 
302. 

Kersies,  difficulty  of  classification,  199. 

King,  Dr.,  509. 

King,  G.,  attempted  forecast  of  the 
growth  of  population,  269. 

King's  merchants,  154.  See  also  Mer- 
chants of  the  staple. 

Labor  movement,  the,  elements  of  cur- 
rent discontent  in,  529;  many-sided, 
618. 

Labor  representation,  528. 

Laborer,  the  agricultural,  distress  of,  in 
the  early  nineteenth  century,  503. 

Laborers,  the  Dorsetshire,  case  of,  521. 

Laborers,  relative  position  of  skilled  and 
unskilled,  501. 

Laborer's  Friend  Society,  its  campaign 
for  allotments,  242. 

Laissez-faire  theory,  not  a  genuine  ob- 
stacle to  reform,  387;  not  of  substan- 
tial importance  in  the  development 
of  factory  legislation,  408. 

Lake  Superior  ores,  discovery  and  util- 
ization, 266. 

Land,  significance  of  relative  scarcity  of, 
118. 

Land  policy,  of  England  in  Nigeria,  111- 
12;  of  France  in  Algeria,  111. 

Land  tenure,  related  to  economic  condi- 
tions, 111;  the  Roman  system,  121. 

Large  scale  production,  in  antiquity,  9; 
relation  to  standardized  consump- 
tion, 21. 

Lathe,  the,  development  of,  328. 

Law  merchant,  the,  136;  146;  adminis- 
tered in  fair  courts,  144;  application 
extended  by  the  Carta  Mercatoria, 
152;  in  the  court  of  the  staple,  155; 
essence  of  its  principles  and  proced- 
ure, 144;  extension  to  municipal 
courts,  145. 

Lawrence,  Edward,  Duty  of  a  Steward  to 
his  Lord,  233. 

Le  Mans,  crafts  at,  56. 

Leaf,  W.,  interpretation  of  the  Trojan 
War,  40. 

Leeds,  opposition  to  capitalist  employ- 
ers and  their  factories  at,  354. 

Leet,  the  court,  129;  130;  its  records  of 
land  tenure,  131. 

Leicester,  174;  occupational  groups  in, 
185. 

Levi,  L.,  505. 


INDEX 


XXVll 


Levy,  Professors  explanation  of  the 
tendency  toward  combinations,  476. 

Lewinski,  Jan  de  St.,  119. 

Liebig,  J.  von,  269. 

Lille,  France,  climate  of,  266. 

Lipson,  E.,  175-76. 

List,  Frederick,  The  National  System  of 
Political  Economy,  39;  scheme  of  pe- 
riodization,  39. 

List  of  crafts,  analysis  of,  65;  Egypt,  31; 
importance  of,  10;  Mesopotamia,  35; 
none  possible  for  early  Greece,  44;  at 

I  Paris,  in  the  eleventh  century,  62;  at 
Rome,  48. 

Liverpool,  untoward  sanitary  condi- 
tions in,  about  1840,  396. 

Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway,  the 
first  project,  441;  profits  of  the  early 
years,  442-43. 

Livery,  becomes  a  class  distinction,  191 ; 
of  craftsmen,  180 ;  of  gild  members,  170. 

Local  Government,  influence  of  the  old 
system  of,  388;  act  of  1858,  400;  act 
of  1871,  401. 

Locomotive,  the,  contest  at  Liverpool, 
441-42;  invented  by  Trevithick,  433; 
northern  designs,  437. 

London,  about  equal  to  Paris  in  size  in 
the  seventeenth  century,  108;  area 
for  which  the  population  is  recorded, 
107-08;  craft  organizations  at,  178; 
growth  of,  108;  the  plague  at,  108;  re- 
lation between  the  City  and  the 
Hanse,  149. 

London  builders,  strike  of  1858,  525. 

London  coal  trade,  history  of,  476. 

London  and  North  Western  Railway, 
agreement  of  1908  with  the  Midland, 
474;  amalgamations  proposed  in  1853 
by,  454 ;  hostility  to  the  Great  North- 
ern, 450;  joint  purse  agreement  with 
the  Midland,  456. 

London  Working-Men's  Association, 
the,  514;  decline  of,  516. 

Lorenz,  Dr.,  509. 

Lorimers,  70. 

Lorraine  ores,  development  of,  345; 
their  utilization,  266. 

Lovett,  W.,  514;  516. 

Low  Countries,  trade  with,  156. 

Ltibeck,  149. 

Luxuries,  dependence  of  the  wealthy 
upon  specialized  production  of,  69; 
disappearance  of,  after  the  fall  of 
Rome,  55. 

Machinery,  relation  to  the  factory  sys- 
tem, 16,  350;  effect  of  its  introduction 
upon  the  artisan,  363. 

Macrosty,  H.  W. ;  Trusts  and  the  State, 
493;  The  Trust  Movement  in  British 
Industry,  491. 


Magnates;  their  place  in  medieval  soci- 
ety, 121. 

Maitland,  F.  W.,  Township  and  Bor- 
ough, 161. 

Malleable  iron,  314. 

Malthusians,  pessimism  not  justified  by 
events,  269. 

Malynes,  The  Canker  of  England's  Com- 
monwealth, 281. 

Manchester  Act,  the,  285. 

Manchester,  Sheffield  and  Lincolnshire 
Railway,  the  strategic  position  of, 
452. 

Manor,  the,  the  administrative  type, 
126;  as  a  capitalistic  organization, 
125;  its  court  leet,  129,  130;  essential 
features  of,  124-25;  general  aspect  of, 
128;  obligations  of  the  tenants,  128; 
officers  of,  129;  origins  of,  123;  princi- 
pal types  found  in  Domesday,  125; 
royal,  126;  varying  degrees  of  its  eco- 
nomic independence,  130. 

Manufacture,  for  export,  in  antiquity, 
37. 

Market,  difference  between  fairs  and 
markets,  138;  in  the  Vth  Dynasty  of 
Egypt,  32;  production  for,  in  antiq- 
uity, 9;  territorial  and  social  limita- 
tions, 19;  for  Mesopotamian  indus- 
try, 37;  the  world,  22. 

Marketing  conditions,  relation  of,  to 
combinations,  479. 

Marsden,  R.,  Cotton  Spinning,  298. 

Marshall,  A.,  226. 

Marx,  K.,  513;  on  the  tendency  toward 
combinations,  493;  view  of  the  Indus- 
trial Revolution,  250. 

Master  Combers,  capitalists,  208;  in  the 
worsted  districts,  222. 

Master  craftsman,  72 ;  conditions  of  be- 
coming a,  74. 

Masterpiece,  an  isolated  reference  in  the 
Book  of  the  Crafts,  84. 

Masters,  definition  of  status  in  the  Book 
of  the  Crafts,  84. 

Maudsley,  328. 

Maximum  tolls,  provided  for  in  early 
railway  charters,  462. 

Meadows,  development  of  communal 
use  of,  118. 

Mercantile  class,  the,  source  of  the  em- 
ploying class,  2. 

Mercantilism,  fallacies  associated  with, 
281. 

Mercers,  61. 

Mercery,  152. 

Merchandizing  crafts,  60. 

Merchant  Adventurers,  155;  charters  of 
1462  and  1505,  156;  origin  of,  156; 
struggle  with  the  Hansards,  157; 
trade  of  the  company,  157. 

Merchants  of  the  Staple,  153 ;  organiza- 


xxvni 


INDEX 


tion  and  government,  155;  origin  of 
the  company,  154. 

Merino  sheep,  spread  of  the  stock, 
196. 

Mesopotamia,  character  of  records,  34; 
early  culture  of,  24. 

Metal  industries,  abrupt  changes  in, 
266;  factors  in  their  transformation, 
253;  position  before  and  after  the  In- 
dustrial Revolution,  254. 

Metal  trades,  character  of  their  trans- 
formation, 314. 

Methuen  treaty,  purpose  of,  282. 

Metics,  58. 

Metier,  jure,  167;  libre,  166. 

Meyer,  Edouard,  3;  discussion  of  slav- 
ery in  antiquity,  8. 

Midland  Railway,  agreement  of  1908 
with  the  London  and  North  Western, 
474;  alliance  with  the  London  and 
North  Western,  452 ;  effect  of  the  de- 
cision of  1853  upon,  454;  extensions 
to  London  and  Scotland,  454;  final 
form  of,  455;  genesis  of,  444-46;  joint 
purse  agreement  with  the  London  and 
North  Western,  456;  the  London  ter- 
minal opened,  456;  policy  towards 
third-class  passengers,  457;  Scotch 
connections  developed,  456;  traffic 
difficulties,  1857-68,  456. 

Midland  system  (of  agriculture),  de- 
scription of,  226. 

Milk,  poor  unable  to  obtain,  239. 

Mill,  Arkwright's  cotton,  295. 

Mills,  first  cotton  spinning  in,  294. 

Mineral  deposits,  significance  of  concen- 
tration of,  in  Germany  and  the 
United  States,  476;  significance  of 
dispersion  of,  in  Great  Britain,  476. 

Mineral  resources,  availability  affected 
by  technique,  266. 

Ministry  of  Health  Act,  1919,  403. 

Money,  Chiozza,  505,  507. 

Monopoly,  alleged  transition  from,  to 
socialization,  493;  conservative  atti- 
tude towards,  497;  of  London  coal 
trade  by  the  Newcastle  area,  477; 
never  absolute,  495;  railways  found 
to  be  "by  nature  a  m.,"  462;  tenden- 
cies in  legislative  control  of,  498. 

Monopoly,  Welsh,  of  steam  coal,  478. 

Moors,  use  of  cotton,  276. 

Morning  talks,  176. 

Morrison,  J.,  proposed  regulation  of 
railways,  1836,  463. 

Mortmain,  statute  of,  applied  to  the  re- 
ligious gilds,  187. 

Muirhead,  Watt's  Mechanical  Inven- 
tions, 327. 

Mule,  the,  accomplishments  of,  300; 
description  of,  298-99;  its  importance, 
300. 


Mun,  T.,  England's  Treasure  by  her  For" 
eign  Trade,  281. 

Municipal  constitution,  the,  an  obsta- 
cle to  trade,  136. 

Muslin  wheel,  early  name  for  the  mule, 
298. 

Muslins,  beginnings  of  the  manufac- 
ture, 297. 

Nasmyth,  comment  on  the  slide  rest, 

328. 
National  Association  of  United  Trades, 

formation  and  decline  of,  522. 
National     minimum,     guaranteed     by 

Elizabethan  statutes,  415. 
Negligence,    common-law    doctrine    of, 

424. 

New  drapery,  as  competitor  of   wool- 
ens, 215;  meaning  of  the  term,  199. 
New  Lanark,  policy  at,  360. 
Newcastle  coal  trade,  combinations  in, 

477. 

Nigeria,  English  land  policy  in,  111-12. 
Non-discriminatory     practices     among 

railways,  definition  of,  464. 
Normal  density  of  population,  89 ;  in  the 

orient,  90;  relative  only,  90. 
Norman    Conquest,   its   effect   on   the 

growth  of  the  manor,  123. 
Norwich,    craft   organization   at,    179; 

numbers  of  crafts  at,  185. 

Obligations  of  craftsmen,  82. 

Occupations,  at  Paris,  in  1300,  66;  at 
Paris,  classified  according  to  size,  65; 
statistics  of,  in  medieval  England,  183. 

Occupational  specialization,  at  Paris,  60. 

Occupational  statistics,  for  British  In- 
dia, in  1901,  255-56;  general  features 
of  industrial  groupings,  1850-55,  259; 
Germany,  in  1907,  259;  not  signifi- 
cant prior  to  the  Industrial  Revolu- 
tion, 209;  recent  figures,  258;  tables, 
England  and  Prussia,  1851  and  1855, 
British  India,  1901,  257;  tables  show- 
ing the  relations  between  industry 
and  agriculture,  260-61;  United 
Kingdom,  1907,  258;  United  States, 
1909,  259. 

Octuple  agreement,  451. 

Old  age  insurance,  428. 

Onions,  P.,  puddling  patent,  330. 

Open  fields,  grazing  rights  over,  233 ;  re- 
lation to  enclosure,  225. 

Osborne  case,  the,  528. 

Owen,  R.,  523;  his  ideals,  519;  mills  at 
New  Lanark,  360. 

Ownership,  not  always  preferable  to 
tenures  based  on  use,  111. 

Oxford,  occupational  groups  in,  185. 

Oxfordshire,  extent  of  seventeenth-cen- 
tury enclosure,  230. 


INDEX 


XXIX 


Pageantry,  its  influence  on  gild  life,  183. 

Pains  of  transition,  363 ;  not  responsible 
for  distress  in  the  early  nineteenth 
century,  418. 

Paper  mills,  early  factories  in  the  Rhone 
Valley,  224. 

Pareto,  509. 

Paris,  industrial  groups,  in  1300,  64;  oc- 
cupations in  1300,  66;  transition  from 
the  free  to  the  sworn  craft  at,  76. 

Parliament,  the  People's,  517;  acts  for 
enclosure,  234. 

Parliamentary,  expenses  of  railway  com- 
panies, 559;  procedure  in  grant  of 
charters,  460-61 ;  trains,  457. 

Parliamentary  History  of  England,  The, 
236. 

Passenger  traffic,  accommodations  for 
third  class,  457;  policy  of  the  Midland 
Railway,  457. 

Paul,  L.,  290;  covenant  with  Wyatt, 
292;  defects  of  his  spinning  machine, 
292;  patents  of  1748  and  1758,  292; 
relations  with  Wyatt,  291;  his  spin- 
ning machine  compared  with  the 
water  frame,  293.  %*  .j 

Pauperism,  growth  of,  416. 

Pearson,  510. 

Peasant  holdings,  average  acreage,  91. 

Peasant  proprietorship,  advocated,  244 ; 
not  always  best,  228;  Young's  view, 
244. 

Pen-y-darran,  Trevithick's  locomotive 
trials  at,  435. 

Phosphorus,  elimination  of,  by  the  basic 
process,  344;  importance  of  its  pres- 
ence in  iron  ore,  343. 

Pie-powder  courts,  144;  jurisdiction 
gradually  merged  with  municipal 
courts,  145. 

Pig  iron,  conversion  of,  329. 

Place,  F.,  514;  516;  agitation  against  the 
Combination  Laws,  381 ;  early  career, 
380;  expectation  of  the  results  of  re- 
peal of  the  Combination  Laws,  383. 

Plague,  the,  limited  the  growth  of  Lon- 
don, 108. 

Podmore,  F.,  Life  of  Robert  Owen,  300. 

Police  power,  the  basis  of  factory  legis- 
lation, 408. 

Poll-tax  returns,  defects  of,  as  enumera- 
tions of  the  population,  93. 

Pools,  among  railways,  481 ;  purpose  of, 
481. 

Poor-Law,  the  Elizabethan,  415. 

Poor-Laws,  allotment  policy  of,  241;  a 
cause  of  much  distress,  365;  Chad- 
wick's  plan  for  the  reform  of,  420;  de- 
fective administration  of,  1750-1830, 
417;  inquiry  of  1909,  421;  Majority 
report,  1909,  422;  out-relief,  prior  to 
1834,  419;  recent  reforms,  421;  re- 


forms of  1834,  420;  systems  of  relief 
prior  to  1834,  419;  a  parish  aban- 
doned to  the  poor,  418;  protests 
against  the  law  of  1834,  516. 

Population,  in  ancient  cities,  27-28;  o! 
boroughs  in  1086  and  1327,  104-05; 
changes  in  the  mass  of,  during  tha 
Middle  Ages,  88;  concentration  of,  hi 
towns,  160  ;  deficiencies  of  French 
enumerations  of,  91 ;  deviations  from 
the  mean  density  of,  100;  differences  in 
growth  of,  in  England  and  in  France, 
88;  dispersion  of,  in  the  Middle  Ages, 
102;  dispersion  of,  in  1086,  103-04; 
effect  of  an  increase  in,  on  the  form  of 
settlement,  117;  of  England  about 
1327,  93-95;  in  England  and  Wales, 
1700-1911,  270;  of  France,  in  the 
fourteenth  century,  59;  King's  esti- 
mates of,  269;  increase  of,  subsequent 
to  the  Industrial  Revolution,  269;  an 
index  of  prosperity,  59;  of  London 
and  of  Paris,  108;  medieval  enumera- 
tions, 87;  movement  of,  in  England, 
100;  proportions  of,  living  in  various 
sizes  of  settlements,  104;  Prussian 
towns  in  the  eighteenth  century  com- 
pared with  ancient  Greek  cities,  42; 
Rogers'  estimates  of,  for  England  prior 
to  the  Black  Death,  97;  stationary  in 
France,  270;  of  towns  in  1377,  106. 

Poverty,  likened  to  a  preventable  dis- 
ease, 423;  Mr.  Money's  use  of  the 
term,  507. 

Poverty  line,  the,  artisans  now  above, 
512;  Rowntree's  definition  of,  501. 

Power  loom,  description  of  Cartwright's, 
301;  perfection  of,  301-02;  number  in 
use  at  various  dates,  302. 

Predatory  civilizations,  27. 

Prefect,  of  Constantinople,  regulates 
crafts,  50. 

Price  associations,  480. 

Price-fixing,  a  remedy  for  excessive  com- 
petition, 481. 

Prise,  151. 

Producer,  not  usually  in  direct  contact 
with  the  consumer  even  during  the 
craft  stage,  12,  60,  68. 

Progress,  the  reality  of,  499. 

Proletariat,  formation  of  an  agricultural, 
239. 

Proportions  of  the  population  in  various 
sizes  of  settlements,  104. 

Proprietary  rights,  in  open  field  villages, 
237. 

Protection,  demand  for,  by  the  woolen 
interest,  279;  the  vested  interest  prin- 
ciple in  England,  280. 

Protective  policy,  beginnings  of,  279. 

Provost  of  Paris,  supervisor  of  industry, 
76. 


INDEX 


Prussia,  cities  of,  in  the  eighteenth  cen 
tury  compared  with  antiquity,  42 
occupational  groups  in  1855,  257. 

Public  Health,  codification  of  laws 
1875,  402;  inquiry  of  1868,  400;  stat- 
ute of  1848,  398. 

Public  Health  Office,  practically  sup- 
pressed in  1871,  401. 

Puddling,  contributions  by  Cort  uncer- 
tain, 331;  description  of,  330;  early 
history  of,  330. 

Purnell,  development  of  a  rolling  mill, 
331-32. 

Putting-out  system,  the,  beginnings  of, 
in  the  woolen  industry,  216;  at  Col- 
chester, 217;  economically  superior  to 
the  factory  system  in  the  early  period, 
224;  essential  features  of,  14-15;  ex- 
tent of  capitalistic  control  in,  347; 
not  represented  by  sweat-shops,  18; 
various  forms  in  the  woolen  indus- 
tries, 221;  in  the  west  of  England 
clothing  district,  213;  in  the  woolen 
industry,  218. 

Race,  alleged  to  be  a  factor  in  settle- 
ment, 120. 

Radcliffe,  loom  patents,  302. 

Rails,  development  of,  432. 

Railway,  the,  essential  elements  of,  431 ; 
the  Great  Western's  broad  gauge,  447; 
Stephenson's  conception  of,  439;  the 
Stockton  and  Darlington  project,  439. 

Railway  Clearing  House,  the,  468. 

Railway  Commissioners,  first  provision 
for,  1846,  465;  functions  of,  466;  pro- 
vision for,  in  1873,  466. 

Railway  legislation,  beginnings  of,  463. 

Railways,  beginnings  of  the  struggle  be- 
tween the  Great  Northern  and  the 
London  and  North  Western,  450; 
their  charter  of  liberties,  464;  com- 
petitive traffic  areas,  448;  completion 
of  the  Scotch  connections,  448-49; 
costs  of  construction  in  various  coun- 
tries, 459;  early  development  domi- 
nated by  local  interests,  443;  early 
development  non-competitive,  448; 
early  provision  for  through  traffic, 
444;  first  regulatory  acts,  463;  the 
first  trunk  line,  446;  the  Gladstone 
award,  451;  high  costs  of  construc- 
tion in  England,  459-60;  hostility  of 
traders  to,  469;  likelihood  of  Gov- 
ernment control  or  supervision  of,  474; 
London  and  York  projects,  449;  by 
nature  a  monopoly,  462;  the  Octuple 
agreement,  451 ;  opposition  to  Parlia- 
mentary declaration  of  rates,  471;  re- 
cent combinations  among,  468,  473; 
recent  financial  pressure  upon,  473; 
regulation  proposed  in  1836,  463;  re- 


lations between,  in  early  years,"  443; 
significance  of  the  Great  Northern 
Railway,  450;  source  of  capital  for 
early  railways,  443;  traffic  confer- 
ences among,  469. 

Rates,  railway,  adjusted  by  traffic  con- 
ferences, 469 ;  .definition  of  unreason- 
able, 472;  demands  for  Parliamentary 
regulation  of,  470;  power  of  railways 
to  vary,  464;  provision  for  maximum, 
470;  schedules  of  1893,  472. 
Ratio  charts,  special  uses  of,  303. 
Redlich,  J.,  English  Local  Government, 

391. 

Reeve,  the,  functions  of  the  village,  130. 
Reform,  social,  general  causes  of  slow 

progress  of,  387. 
Reform,  two  schools  of,  390. 
Reform  Bill,  disappointment  of  artisans 

over,  514. 

Report  from  the  Poor-Law  Commissioners 
on  an  Inquiry  into  the  Sanitary  Con- 
dition of  the  Labouring  Population  of 
Great  Britain,  397. 
Reyce,  Breviary  of  Suffolk,  221. 
Richardson,   The  Health  of  Nations,  a 
Review  of  the  Works  of  Edwin  Chad- 
wick,  392-93. 
Robertson,  W.  A.,  Combination  among 

Railway  Companies,  468. 
docket,  the,  success  of,  442. 
rlodbertus,  1,  3;  discussion  of  the  house- 
hold in  antiquity,  8. 
Rogers,  Thorold,  97. 
Rolling  mills,   Cort's  development   of, 

331;  Purnell's,  331-32. 
loman  influences,  in  Gaul,  52. 
ionian    institutions,    survival    of,    in 

France,  53. 
Ionian  land  system,  essentially  aristo- 
cratic, 121. 
lome,  collegia,  48. 
lowing  (fulling),  nature  of  the  process, 

205. 
loyal  Household,  influence  on  the  craft 

gilds,  79. 

luhr  Basin,  importance  of  its  coal  to  the 
German  cartel,  478. 

Saint  Riquier,  Abbey  of,  as  nucleus  of  a 
settlement,  56. 

Scab,  the,  attitude  of  the  Amalgamated 
Society  of  Engineers  towards,  525. 
chmoller,   G.,    162-63;   conception   of 
town  economy,  134. 
chools,  endowments  of  gilds  not  trans- 
ferred to,  190. 

Scotland,  rail  connections  with,  248-49. 

Scribe,  of  the  Xllth  Dynasty,  descrip- 
tion of  craftsmen,  30-31. 

Seebohm,  F.,  92;  96. 

Self-sufficiency,  incomplete  on  the  fron* 


INDEX 


XXXI 


tier,  7;  local,  21;  municipal,  134;  not 
unqualified  in  the  primitive  house- 
hold, 4-5;  qualified  by  inter-tribal 
trade,  6;  qualified  on  the  manor,  130. 

Serfs,  not  numerous  on  manors,  129. 

Settlement,  Celtic  forms  of,  116;  devel- 
opment of  various  forms  in  Siberia, 
116-17;  forms  of,  112;  forms  of,  in 
England,  116;  racial  theories  of,  116; 
Roman  forms,  116. 

Settlement  and  Removal,  law  of,  1662, 
416. 

Settlements,  characteristic  sizes  of, 
about  1086,  104;  characteristic  sizes, 
about  1327,  105;  combination  of  ra- 
cial and  economic  factors  determining 
forms  of,  120. 

Sewage  removal,  Chadwick's  proposals 
for  the  improvement  of,  397. 

Sewers,  defective,  in  Liverpool  in  1840, 
396;  defects  of  early,  395. 

Shaftesbury,  the  seventh  Earl  of,  char- 
acterization, 391. 

Sharp  and  Roberts,  loom  patents,  302. 

Sheep,  important  breeds  of,  196. 

Sheet  iron,  introduction  of,  332. 

Shop  looms,  351 ;  numbers  of,  352. 

Siberia,  development  of  land  systems  in, 
118;  forms  of  settlement,  116-17. 

Silks^  East  Indian,  importation  prohib- 
ited, 1697  and  1700,  284.  See  also 
East  Indian  textiles. 

Silk  mills,  early  history  of,  355. 

Simon,  Sir  John,  abolished  the  private 
cesspool  in  the  City  of  London,  395- 
96;  characterization  of  Chad  wick, 
393-94;  criticism  of  Chadwick's  atti- 
tude toward  local  authorities,  394. 

Size  of  farm,  profitable  s.  relative  to 
market  conditions,  228. 

Slaves,  attached  to  villas,  121;  in 
Egypt,  33;  in  Greek  factories,  44; 
number  of,  in  antiquity,  8,  28;  pro- 
portions of  freemen  and  slaves,  in 
Greece,  47. 

Small  holdings,  acts  of  1892  and  1907, 
245;  advocated  by  Jesse  Collings,  245; 
agitation  for,  243;  definition  of,  240; 
extent  of  present  need  of,  246. 

Small  holdings  Commissioners,  duties 
of,  245. 

Smeaton,  J.,  comment  on  Watt's  engine, 
272,  326;  blowing  engine,  322. 

Smiles,  S.,  Industrial  Biography,  328. 

Soc-men,  of  an  administrative  manor, 
126.  See  also  Yeomen. 

Social  insurance,  422;  Health  Insurance 
Act  of  1911,  426;  old  age,  428;  proba- 
ble results  of,  429 ;  some  contingencies 
not  genuinely  insurable,  423;  unem- 
ployment, 427. 

Social  ladder,  the,  break  in,  227. 


Socialism,  an  influence  in  the  recent  la- 
bor movement,  528 ;  relation  to  Chart- 
ism, 513. 

Socialists,  current  aspirations  of,  529; 
interests  of,  in  economic  history,  1. 

Socialistic,  interpretation  of  industrial 
history,  2,  3,  494;  views  on  combina- 
tions, 493. 

Sociology,  adopts  a  new  point  of  view  in 
agrarian  history,  111. 

Southampton,  175. 

Specialization,  among  leather  workers  at 
Paris,  70;  degree  of,  at  Paris,  in  the 
eleventh  century,  63 ;  of  crafts,  in  early 
Greece,  43;  in  industry,  conditioned 
by  the  market,  19;  of  industry,  by  re- 
gions, 61 ;  of  occupations,  57. 

Spice  Islands,  the,  early  importance  of, 
277;  the  struggle  for,  277. 

Spinners,  working  on  their  own  wool, 
221. 

Spinning,  continuous  and  intermittent 
processes,  288;  deficiencies  of,  in  cot- 
tages, 219 ;  an  occupation  for  the  poor, 
219;  organization  of,  uncertain  in  the 
early  period,  203;  process  of,  288;  by 
use  of  rollers,  290;  use  of  rollers  not 
really  accomplished  by  Paul,  293. 

Spitalfields  Act,  1773,  its  application, 
373 ;  a  form  of  compulsory  arbitration, 
373 ;  petition  for  its  extension  to  Cov- 
entry, 376;  provisions  of,  372. 

Spitalfields  riots,  371. 

Squatters.  See  Cottagers. 

Standing  orders,  committee  on,  461. 

Staple,  length  of,  of  various  wools,  195. 

Staple,  the,  at  Calais,  154;  location  of, 
154;'meaning  of  the  term,  153.  See  also 
Merchants  of  the  staple. 

Status  of  craftsmen,  defined,  82. 

Steam  coaches,  on  the  highways,  436. 

Steam  engine,  the,  defects  of,  in  the 
early  days,  328;  Newcomen's,  323; 
the  non-condensing  type,  434;  princi- 
ple of  Newcomen's,  324;  Watt's  con- 
ception of,  325;  Watt's  difficulties  in 
making,  326. 

Steel,  costs  about  1850,  340;  early  proc- 
esses and  their  limitations,  340;  pro- 
duced by  the  direct  process,  316. 

Steel  trade,  the,  conditions  tending  to 
monopoly  in,  478. 

Steelyard,  the,  establishment  of  the 
Hanse  at  London,  150. 

Stephenson,  George,  conception  of  the 
nature  of  railway  works,  439;  early 
career,  438;  experiments  on  grade  re- 
sistance, 438;  his  principles  of  railway 
construction  adopted  in  England, 
460. 

Stephenson,  Robert,  joins  with  Booth  in 
building  the  Rocket,  442. 


XXXll 


INDEX 


Steward,  duties  of  a  manorial,  129. 

Stockton  and  Darlington  Railway,  439- 
40;  provisions  for  passenger  traffic, 
462. 

Strangers,  medieval  laws  for,  135. 

Struggles  of  inventors,  in  early  stages  of 
the  Industrial  Revolution,  272. 

Stump,  his  factory  near  Oxford,  223. 

Subsidy  rolls,  afford  evidence  of  popula- 
tion, about  1327,  93. 

Suffolk,  putting-out  system  in,  218. 

Surnames,  derived  from  occupations, 
183. 

Sweat-shops,  classification  of,  17. 

Tacitus,  Germania  of,  119. 

Taff  Vale  case,  527. 

Tailors  of  Salisbury,  the,  charter  of,  188. 

Tapestry,  manufacture  at  the  Gobelins, 
224. 

Tax  rolls,  as  basis  for  occupational  sta- 
tistics, 183. 

Tea,  becomes  a  staple  for  the  poor,  239. 

Temples,  work  in,  in  Egypt,  33;  work 
in,  in  Mesopotamia,  35-36. 

Ten  Hours  Act,  409,  ^ 

Tenants,  obligations  to  5art  produce, 
130;  obligations  of,  on  a  manor,  128. 

Tenant  farmers,  of  the  Roman  Empire, 
121;  status  changed  by  the  commu- 
tation of  labor  dues,  13  li  status  of  the 
villani  about  1086. 

Tenure  of  land,  adapted  to  economic 
conditions,  111;  sociological  definition 
of  the  problem,  111. 

Teutonic  customs,  during  the  invasions, 
119. 

Teutonic  invasions,  not  incompatible 
with  the  survival  of  Roman  institu- 
tions, 52. 

Textile  crafts,  at  Paris,  in  the  eleventh 
century,  64;  subordinate  importance 
of,  in  Rome,  49. 

Textile  industries,  dependence  Upon 
humidity,  263;  dislocations  occurring 
during  the  Industrial  Revolution, 
254;  general  changes  in,  254;  relative 
growth  of,  during  the  Industrial  Rev- 
olution, 307-08. 

Textile  trades,  changes  in,  during  the 
Industrial  Revolution,  252;  no  recent 
tendency  toward  vertical  integration, 
489. 

Third  Estate,  the,  29;  rise  of,  2,  58. 

Thomas,  development  of  the  basic  proc- 
ess, 344. 

Throstle,  the,  limitations  of,  290;  its 
principle,  288;  sectional  view  of,  289. 

Thurlow,  Lord,  criticism  of  procedure 
on  enclosure  bills,  236. 

Thurston,  R.  H.,  The  History  and  Growth 
of  the  Steam  Engine,  325,  436. 


Tool-making  machinery,  importance  of, 
328. 

Torrens  Act,  1867-68,  the,  404. 

Town,  distinguished  from  city  and  bor- 
ough, 158;  distinguished  from  rural 
settlements,  158. 

Town  and  country,  relations  in  different 
periods,  29. 

Town  economy,  the,  described,  134;  as 
embodied  in  the  gild  merchant,  173; 
superficiality  of  the  conception,  135. 

Town  Planning  Act,  1909,  405. 

Towns,  acquire  corporate  privileges, 
162;  growth  of,  162;  military  theory 
of  their  origin,  159;  rise  of,  58;  in  the 
Saxon  period,  159. 

Toynbee,  A.,  Lectures  on  the  Industrial 
Revolution,  250. 

Trade,  associations  for  foreign,  147; 
characteristic  t.  of  English  fairs,  142; 
with  continental  India,  277;  crafts 
engaged  in,  60;  development  of,  in 
finished  and  in  unfinished  cloth,  204; 
on  the  East  Coast  of  India,  278; 
among  Egyptian  artisans,  32;  en- 
franchisement of  medieval,  136;  for- 
eign, 20;  of  Greeks  and  Phoenicians, 
40;  hindered  by  municipal  law,  136; 
local,  21;  with  Low  Countries,  156; 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  28;  in  primitive 
society,  6;  in  woolen  yarn,  204.  See 
also  Market. 

Trade  agreements,  480. 

Trade  unions,  based  on  crafts,  523; 
Royal  Commission  of  1868  on,  526; 
status  of,  in  1871,  386;  status  pre- 
sumed under  the  statute  of  1871,  527. 

Trader,  the,  as  capitalist,  2. 

Trades  Councils,  genesis  of,  525;  Parlia- 
mentary activities  of,  526. 

Trades  Union,  a,  notion  of,  519. 

Tradesmen,  60. 

Traffic  conferences,  469. 

Tram  lines,  as  common  carriers,  432 ;  in 
the  northern  collieries,  431. 

Transformations,  great  social,  247. 

Transportation,  not  an  obstacle  to  dis- 
tant trade  in  early  times,  20. 

Trevithick,  R.,  experiments  with  the 
non-condensing  engine,  434;  his  first 
locomotive,  434-35;  his  use  of  sheet 
iron,  334. 

Trojan  War,  the,  Leaf's  interpretation 
of,  40. 

Trust,  rare  in  England,  483. 

Trust  Movement,  the,  definition  of,  475; 
beginnings  of,  in  Great  Britain,  475. 

Tucking  mills,  206. 

Unemployment  insurance,  act  of  1909, 

427. 
Unfair  competition,  among  craftsmen,  84. 


INDEX 


xxxm 


Unrest,   the    present    social,  basis    of, 

512. 
Unwin,  G.,  Industrial  Organization  in  the 

Sixteenth  and   Seventeenth   Centuries, 

222 ;  Guilds  and  Companies  of  London, 

170;  in  the  Victorian  County  History, 

Suffolk,  218. 
Urban  Concentration,  in  antiquity,  27; 

Prussia  and  Greece  compared,  42. 
Urban  development,  beginnings  of,  in 

the  eleventh  century,  58. 
Urban  life,  rise  of,  among  the  Greeks, 

25;  at  the  dawn  of  history,  24. 
Urban   settlements,    beginnings   of,   in 

England,  158;  forms  of,  158. 
Use,  land  tenures  based  on,  111. 

Vase  painters,  in  Greece,  45. 

Vertical  integration,  not  present  in  the 
textile  trades,  489. 

Vested  interests,  protection  of,  in  Eng- 
land, 280. 

Victorian  County  History,  Suffolk,  218. 

View  of  the  craft,  the,  at  Constanti- 
nople, 50;  importance  of,  177. 

Villa,  the,  probably  did  not  survive  the 
invasions,  121;  its  organization,  121. 

Village,  agriculture  of  the  medieval,  115; 
enclosed,  112;  officers  elected  by,  130; 
the  open-field,  112. 

Villages,  predominantly  small,  in  1327, 
107;  size  about  1086,  104. 

Village  blacksmith,  the,  9;  in  Greece, 
43;  on  the  Kasai,  4-5. 

Village  community,  the,  evolution  of, 
117;  origin  of  allotments,  118. 

Villagers,  allotments  of,  in  the  open 
fields,  115. 

Villein,  the,  obligations  of,  128;  acquisi- 
tion of  freedom  by,  132. 

Vinogradoff,  P.,  103. 

Vintners,  privileges  acquired  by,  146. 

Wage-earners,  in  the  Middle  Ages,  71. 

Wage-earning  class,  implied  by  the 
Statute  of  Apprentices,  192. 

Wage-fixing,  provision  for,  in  the  Stat- 
ute of  Apprentices,  193. 

Wage  work,  among  the  early  Egyp- 
tians, 32;  in  Mesopotamia,  36;  notion 
of,  10. 

Wages,  important  differences  in,  501; 
importance  of  discovering  relative 
changes  in,  500. 

Walker,  J.,  Report  to  the  Directors  of  the 
Liverpool  and  Manchester  Railway, 
441. 

Wardens,  functions  of,  76;  modes  of 
choice,  at  Paris,  77. 

Waste,  enclosure  of,  225,  232. 

Water  frame,  the,  compared  with  Paul's 
machine,  293;  patent  declared  void, 


296;  story  of  the  invention,  295.  See 
also,  Throstle. 

Watson,  J.,  514. 

Watt,  J.,  conception  of  the  steam  en- 
gine, 325;  description  ^of  the  first 
trials  of  the  engine,  326 ;  early  career, 
324;  struggles  of,  272;  partnership 
with  Boulton,  327. 

Wealth,  distribution  of,  in  England, 
506. 

Weavers,  position  in  the  Suffolk  woolen 
industry,  220;  position  of  worsted, 
222;  probably  emerge  later  than 
dyers,  12. 

Weaver's  Act,  the,  exceptions,  212-13; 
provisions,  212. 

Weaver's  clubs,  Spitalfields,  371;  in  the 
west  of  England,  1727,  369. 

Weaving,  as  a  cottage  industry,  211 ;  de- 
grees of  skill  required,  351;  diffusion 
of  in  the  rural  districts,  211;  rates  for, 
370;  in  towns,  209-10. 

Weaving  house,  the,  of  early  Mesopo- 
tamian  temples,  36. 

Week  works,  128. 

West  of  England  Clothier  System,  221. 

Wool,  classification  of,  195;  exported  by 
the  Hanse,  150;  exported  through 
staple  ports,  153;  properties  of,  196; 
purchased  by  poor  people  to  spin, 
221;  put  out  by  the  Suffolk  clothier, 
219. 

Woolen  industry,  broad-cloth  districts 
exempted  from  the  Weaver's  Act,  213; 
its  concern  with  the  Methuen  treaty, 
282;  cottage  weaving  exempted  from 
the  Weaver's  Act,  213;  its  decline  in 
the  East  Counties,  215;  essential 
processes  of  manufacture,  202-03; 
finishing  not  notably  developed  in 
England,  202;  location  of  the  broad- 
cloth manufacture,  211;  market  for 
Suffolk  cloth,  220;  position  of  spin- 
ners in  Suffolk,  219;  position  of  weav- 
ers in  Suffolk,  220;  proportions  of 
workers,  202;  protected  against  the 
competition  of  cottons,  253;  scale  of, 
216;  scale  of,  in  Suffolk,  221;  stabil- 
ized after  1555,  214;  suffered  from 
competition  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, 215;  weaving  in  cottages,  211; 
weaving  in  towns,  211;  numbers  of 
persons  occupied  in,  1679  and  1741, 
208. 

Woolen  Report,  the,  1806,  221,  222. 

Woolens,  characteristics  of,  197;  chro- 
nology of  their  history,  198;  compe- 
tition with  worsteds,  198;  types  of, 
1551-52,  197. 

Workhouse,  the,  original  conception  of, 
416;  the  mixed,  prior  to  1834,  419. 

Workingmen's  Friendly  Societies,  the, 


XXXIV 


INDEX 


Roman  collegia  similar  to,  48.  See  also 

Confrerie. 
Workshops,  17;  regulated  under  the  act 

of  1867,  414. 
World  commerce,  in  the  Middle  Ages, 

137. 
Worsteds,  characteristics  of,  198;  rise  of 

the  industry,  199;  types  of,  1578  and 

1739,  200-01. 
Worsted     industry,      its      competitive 

strength,  206;  master  combers,  222; 

organization  of,  222;  proportions  of 

workers,  207. 
Wrought  iron,  produced  in  the  bloomery 

furnace,  318. 
Wyatt,  J.,  his  claims  to  the  spinning 

invention,  290;  covenant  with  Paul, 

292;  relations  with  Paul,  291. 


Xenophon,  description  of  craft  indus- 
try, 43. 

Yarn,  export  of  worsted,  222;  grades  of 
cotton,  290;  strength  of  cotton,  under 
variant  humidity  conditions,  264; 
worsted,  its  manufacture  specialized, 
207-08;  East  Indians,  imported,  285; 
labor  costs  of  producing,  in  England 
and  in  India,  312-13;  prices  and  costs 
of  cotton,  312-13;  production  of,  by 
cottagers  in  the  west  of  England,  222. 

Yeoman,  definition  of,  about  1086,  124; 
extended  meaning  of  the  term  after 
1400,  133. 

Yeoman  farming,  227. 

Young,  Professor  A.  A.,  511 ;  on  the  con- 
centration of  wealth,  508. 


LAW  LIBRARY  r ,,,..  ,  n 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
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